Amalgamation
by boutondor
Summary: What if Jane and Lisbon were already married when the series started? Episode Tag fic. One fic per episode. Fic 17: Prime Trust.
1. 01 The Old and the New

Okay, I am acutely aware that this series is very similar to my Secret Lies series, but it's not at the same time.

Some points:

1. It's an all-episode-tag series. A fic per episode.

2. It's in chronological order.

3. Relationship dynamic is different.

4. I intend to make this series a bit lighter than Secret Lies. It's hard because it's The Mentalist and it's dark, but I'm trying.

Happy reading :)

Cat

~o~

**Amalgamation: **

**01. The Old and the New**

~o~

Jane walked by Lisbon's desk and said, "Very pleasant addition to the Serious Crimes Unit."

She looked up and said casually, "Oh hi, when did you get here?"

He smiled at her. "You knew I wasn't going to leave."

She leaned back against her chair, raised an eyebrow and stared at him. "Did I?"

"What was I going to do back in Sacramento?" He shrugged.

"Get some sleep maybe."

He cocked his head to the side. "Funny." He opened his mouth to say more but Van Pelt came back into the room, so he turned around and started watching the video of the murder scene.

* * *

"Did you really think he was going to give you a prescription without a consultation?" Lisbon asked Jane as they got in the car after seeing Dr. Wagner.

"Doesn't hurt to try."

She stared at him as he put his seatbelt on. "You should make an appointment. You need to sleep."

He shrugged. "Neh, I'll make one when we get back to Sacramento."

She sighed, but didn't say anything more.

* * *

As soon as she and Jane were in his hotel room, Lisbon put water in the kettle and turned it on.

"I really like Van Pelt," Jane said to her as he took his vest off and put it on the chair. "Opinionated and delusional. A very charming young woman, indeed. No wonder Rigsby's got a soft spot for her." He watched Lisbon rummaging through his luggage. "What are you looking for?" he asked her.

She was frowning as she searched through clothes and papers. Finally, a smile spread across her face as she exclaimed, "Aha!" She held up an herbal tea bag. "I knew you would bring me some."

He grinned back at her as he poured the boiling water in a mug. "You're not going to offer me one?"

"You know perfectly well that it's that fruity stuff you hate," she explained, tearing open the teabag and dropping it into the hot water. "You know, you could have given Rigsby and Van Pelt a break. You didn't have to make them so uncomfortable, especially on Van Pelt's first day."

"She can take it," he replied as he started undressing.

"I know she can," Lisbon said, undressing as well. "I just don't like that you're putting sexual tension within my team."

"There's enough of that already, huh?" Jane took her in his arms and dropped her on the bed, making her shriek. "Shh, Teresa, Cho's staying in the room next door."

* * *

"Why didn't you call me when you couldn't sleep?" Lisbon asked as she and Jane were driving back to Dr. Wagner's clinic.

"Because you were sleeping. You need your sleep as much as I do, if not more. You carry a gun."

She sighed. "Fine. Why didn't you come to my room then?"

"It would have woken you up," he explained.

"No, it wouldn't have."

"Yes, it would."

"Patrick, you're hiding something from me. I know when you're hiding something."

"Oh look, here we are." Jane pointed out.

She pulled in at the medical center's parking lot and Jane got out of the car. As he walked away, she pulled the window down and asked him, "what time do you want me to pick you up?"

"I'll call Rigsby or Cho."

"You're hiding something," she repeated.

He smiled at her. "Don't worry."

"Hm," she mumbled as she pulled the window back up and drove away. "Like that's gonna help."

* * *

When Lisbon walked into her room, overworked and tired, the last thing she wanted to see was Patrick Jane lying on her bed, smiling. "What are you doing here?"

"The good doctor's in custody?" he asked, ignoring her own question.

"Yes, he is. Now go back to your room."

"Teresa, come on."

"I mean it. I'm not in the mood for you tonight," she told him.

They stared at each other for a minute and finally Jane got up. "I didn't want to anger you."

She shook her head, refusing to accept his apology. "I hate it when you keep things from me." She sighed and said softly, "please go."

"I'm sorry," he said when he was at the door.

"I know," she said. "I won't be angry tomorrow."

He nodded and left the room. She dropped on her bed and fell asleep, fully clothed.

* * *

Jane walked into the room, a box of doughnuts in hand. He got her favorite: chocolate glaze. "Closed case doughnuts are here," he said to the agents in the room and smiling at Lisbon. She looked up for a brief second and then went back to what she was reading. He looked at Van Pelt who seemed to be ignoring him as well. He once again looked at Lisbon who was completely ignoring him. She was definitely still angry. He looked around the room and said: "I just wanted to get sleeping pills, I swear to God." Lisbon finally looked at him with an expression of complete disbelief. He looked at Van Pelt but kept glancing back at Lisbon as he said: "I didn't even want to go. You know I didn't want to go."

"Right," Van Pelt said as she walked away.

Lisbon went back to reading.

"Yeah, you didn't set Wagner up," Rigsby said as he took a doughnut, "figured it was him days ago."

"You didn't let us tear apart the family in order to satisfy your childish need for drama," Cho pointed out sarcastically, taking a doughnut as well.

"That family was screwed anyway," Jane defended himself. "Don't blame yourself guys," he chuckled. They did not look happy. He caught a paper frog Cho threw at him.

Jane turned around to look at Lisbon. He didn't mind that the team was angry at him as long as she wasn't.

"Don't even start," she told him as he approached her desk. "I'm still angry."

"I'm sorry," he said.

"No, you're not," she retorted.

Jane placed the paper frog on her desk as a piece offering.

"A frog?" she asked. "Well this makes everything better, doesn't it?"

The frog jumped in the air as he walked away. She gave a soft yelp in surprise and he looked back at her. He could tell she was smiling. He was back in her good graces. And into her bed.

* * *

In the early hours of the morning, he slipped into Lisbon's hotel bed. She barely stirred as he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. She was such a comfort to him. He had just gone to his house in Malibu. Going there unnerved him. It had felt strange to be confronted with his previous life. He still wasn't sure if he had done the right thing, marrying Lisbon. It's not that he didn't love her and didn't like being married to her. He just couldn't truly appreciate his current life as long as he hadn't put his old one in the past. He had to find Red John.

* * *

To Be Continued...


	2. 02 Soulmates in their Own Strange Way

Thank you for the reviews. I really, really appreciate them :) I've got loads more coming!

~o~

**02. Soulmates in their Own Strange Way**

~o~

"It's so annoying when you pull crap like that," Lisbon told Jane as they left the kitchen.

"Well, we found out who wrote the message, didn't we?"

"We've got a passed out suspect on our hands." She pointed her finger in the air. "It's that kind of thing that put us in trouble, Jane."

"Why didn't you try the food at the restaurant?"

"Too much butter," she answered. She knew he was deflecting, but she had learned a long time ago that under certain circumstances it was easier to roll with it than fight it.

He nodded and smiled. "True, but you refused the food before you knew there was so much butter."

"It's unprofessional," she simply said.

"Ha," Jane looked at her happily. "The mighty Agent Lisbon wouldn't want to look unprofessional, now would she?"

She groaned. "I have to check up on Cho's interview," she said as she walked away.

Jane watched her walk away, smiling. She was so adorable.

* * *

Jane watched the state agents and police officers prepare to take Hector Ramirez into custody. He noticed the ice cream truck on the road and started to formulate a plan as the police started to go in. He waited and watched as everyone started running and finally he saw Ramirez, machete in hand, run into the street Jane was standing. He slowly walked to the middle of the street and then bam! Lisbon apprehended Ramirez from the side, tackling him over and cuffing him in less than 30 seconds. At first he was a little peeved that he wasn't able to execute his plan, but then he smiled proudly.

That was his wife, Super Agent Teresa Lisbon.

* * *

"Oprah and Dr. Phil here, " Hector Ramirez said. Jane grinned and wondered if he saw Lisbon as Oprah or Dr. Phil. "I told her this is how it was going to end. Only it was going to be me that died and with her, sitting here, with dumb cops asking dumb questions. " He leaned closer as he said, "Why was a respectable girl like you with a thug like Hector Ramirez?"

He knew Ramirez had no idea what he was doing, but Jane felt like Ramirez was asking Lisbon the same question about their marriage.

"Why was she?" Lisbon asked him. Ramirez's question didn't seem to have the same effect on her. She had always been the one so sure that their marriage hadn't been a mistake, even if she had gotten the rotten part of the deal.

"You wouldn't understand," Ramirez replied.

"Sure she would," Jane chimed in.

Lisbon turned her head toward Jane's direction without actually looking at him. Could she guess what had been going through his mind the last minute?

"All women understand the charm of a violent man," he stated.

"What we had was special," Hector stated.

"Ugh, you made her feel like a captured princess instead of a small town choir nerd," Jane explained and Lisbon rolled her eyes. "And she made you feel like a dashing pirate instead of what you are... sort of a bad-tempered pharmacist."

Lisbon was struggling to keep her face frozen, not to let the smile slip. He was trying not to show how much it pleased him that he had been able to amuse her.

* * *

"Okay, tell me," Lisbon said, "what did you find?"

Jane picked up his phone and dialed a number. "Tell you won't do; I have to show you." He told her and then on the phone he said: "Hi, I made a booking for two for this afternoon. Could you put us on the terrace? It's more romantic."

Lisbon looked shocked. It's true that they rarely went out to lunch or dinner. It usually involved an apology. On his part. He should take her out more often. That wasn't the plan today. It didn't mean that he wouldn't have a bit of fun with it though.

"Thanks," he continued on the phone. "Yeah, Patrick. Lovely. See you then." He hung up and looked at Lisbon, smiling. "Don't fret, I wouldn't seduce you over a meal. That would be very sophomoric." He wanted to add that they were past the seduction part, but he was afraid that the comment would land him a hard slap in the face.

"I don't think you were trying to seduce me," Lisbon replied.

"Come on," Jane went on, "how could that thought not have entered your head?"

Lisbon just stared at him. As fun as this had been, he was definitely going to have to make up for it later.

"Your denial that it did intrigues me," he said before walking away.

"Bite me."

He'd definitely have to make up for it.

* * *

Lisbon watched the bodies of the two people she just shot on the floor. She put her gun away, trying to stop shaking. Fear and adrenaline was still coursing through her veins. She had almost lost her husband. If she had arrived a minute later, Jane would have died. She tried to regain her senses as she untied the victim.

Jane was watching her. Once she had finished untying the victim, Lisbon finally looked back at him. They locked eyes, but Jane looked away. The events of the last five minutes had been too much. He thought he was going to die. Watching Lisbon react so strongly to his almost death made him realize how much his death would affect her.

She couldn't tear her own eyes away. She had almost lost him.

* * *

"I don't get it," Van Pelt said. "She actually enjoyed helping him kill. One crazy, evil person, I understand, but two, husband and wife... marriage is supposed to be a sacred, loving thing."

"Hm, they were soulmates in their own strange way," Jane commented.

Lisbon swallowed. She never thought marriage could be that way. Cho nudged Van Pelt and the three agents started walking away. Lisbon and Jane watched the family as they said one final goodbye to Melanie. As he and Lisbon walked away, Jane put a comforting hand on her shoulder, reminding her that he was by her side.

* * *

To Be Continued...


	3. 03 United Front

Thanks everyone who has reviewed and added this story as a favourite :) It means a lot. This one's short and so are the next couple of chapters. I've got a longer one coming soon though.

~o~

**03. United Front**

~o~

Lisbon turned the radio off, annoyed. Jane always listened to such crappy music.

"You okay?" He asked in his super-concerned voice that made her even more annoyed.

"I'm fine," she replied curtly.

"You don't sound fine."

"Van Pelt's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. It's pissing me off, that's all," Lisbon admitted.

"Ha," Jane said, understanding. "Does she suspect anything about us?"

"What? No, it's something else. Never mind," she said, even more annoyed. Obviously, she didn't like Jane sticking his nose in whatever was bothering her. "What do you think of Flipper?"

"Deflection. Fine. I won't pry for now."

She shot him one of her trademark Lisbon looks. Jane tried not to smile. His wife was beyond predictable. If she only knew how adorable she was when she looked annoyed.

~o~

"You're going to regret this," Dane Kurtik was telling them from the backseat.

"Shut up, Mr. Kurtik," Lisbon said as she looked in the rearview mirror. She glanced at Jane. "How's your nose?"

"Fine. I've had worse."

She smiled. "That you've had."

She wanted to touch him, at least hold his hand, but with Kurtik sitting in the backseat of her car, that was impossible. She didn't mind keeping her marriage a secret. She liked working with her husband, but she also liked keeping her personal life and working life separate. The secrecy of their marriage assured this separation. There were moments, however, when she wished she could be a wife before a cop. This was one of those moments.

* * *

"Just to let you know I'm suing the CBI and the Attorney General's office for wrongful arrest and unlawful imprisonment and I will drop the suit when they'll fire you," Jane watched Lisbon approaching the bullpen as he listened to Kurtik's little rant, "and Agent Lisbon."

"Best of luck," was Jane only answer.

"You're not scared of me, huh?" Kurtik sounded genuinely surprised. "It's a mistake," he added when Jane didn't respond. He turned around to arrive face to face with Lisbon.

"Keep walking Mr. Kurtik or I'll have to arrest you again," Lisbon told Kurtik as he smirked at her.

"If you were fifteen years younger," he said as he looked her up and down and winked at her, "I might have given you a shot."

As Kurtik walked away, Lisbon and Jane looked at one another. She was disgusted and also secretly glad that Jane had put the CBI and her unit in trouble by insulting Kurtik. Jane, for his part, really felt like punching the son of a bitch. How dare he hit on his wife? Kurtik spoke to her like he would be doing her a grand favor by letting her into his bed. Was he seriously kidding? The arrogant bastard.

* * *

The reason for Lisbon's annoyance came to light as Jane watched her offer advice to the father of the victim, her hands shaking as she handed him a card. She noticed Jane watching when she turned around and gave him a slight nod. He nodded back, agreeing that he would meet her back at their house. He was going to be especially nice to her tonight.


	4. 04 Italian Apology

Aw, you guys completely rock. Thank you sooooo much for all the reviews. I'd like to thank 'fan of mentalist' for reviewing (since I couldn't reply to you personally like I did with the others). I am having such a blast writing these. It took me longer to post this than I thought because I wrote new parts to it at the last minute.

~o~

**04. Italian Apology**

~o~

"I'm disappointed, I'm very disappointed and I'm embarrassed. How could you do this to me? I told the mayor of San Francisco that I was putting my best people on this."

Jane and Lisbon looked at each other. Lisbon was angry and ordering Jane to behave.

"Oh, holy mother, who takes off the freaking labels? I mean what is that? Is this real or is that decaf?" Minelli turned around and asked them, "how am I supposed to know which is which?"

"Mix them both half and half and drink twice as much," Jane advised and looked at Lisbon who was doing her best not to smile. So not that angry after all.

"Who drinks decaf anyway? What's the point?" He turned swiftly around, pointing to Jane as he said to Lisbon: "and what were you thinking, leaving him alone at an event like that?"

"No excuses," she replied, "I mistakenly treated him as a responsible adult."

"I do have a plan," Jane told Minelli, who did not look convinced.

"Which is?" Minelli asked Jane to elaborate.

"First, win the widow's confidence..."

"Aside from her lawyer making an official complaint with the Attorney General," Minelli interrupted, "how is that going for you?"

"She's playing hard to get."

"Jane, you close cases. You close like a fiend so I tolerate you, and I protect you, and I let you make Lisbon's life a misery."

Both Jane and Lisbon showed their agreement on that last statement. At the same time, if Minelli only knew...

* * *

In the seven months he had been married Jane never had to lie about his marital status. Either people assumed from the wedding ring on his finger that he was married or they knew about his story and assumed he wasn't. No one had asked him forthright. Except for Jennifer Sands. She asked him and he lied. He did it for her, for Lisbon. She was the one who wanted all the secrecy. Nevertheless, he felt a pang of guilt when he denied the existence of his marriage to the beautiful widow in front of him.

The whole situation made him sad. He loved Teresa Lisbon and hated denying it to strangers. He should be grateful that Lisbon wanted this secrecy, as trying to seduce the widow was part of his plan to crack the case. He felt, however, a certain repugnancy about this particular scheme. Even though he had absolutely no intention to betray his wife, he didn't necessarily like the situation either. It explained why he was distracted at the office when Lisbon started commenting on the Sands finances.

"Looks like Sands was bust, all right," she said. "He used to be huge, but he made some really bad calls in IT. Over the past five years, his business has plummeted down to almost nothing. No clients, no income, their indictments and injunctions, the whole nightmare, coming just down the road."

"Strange thing is, until a couple of weeks ago, there was almost $10 million in his personal account in cash, in bonds and in stock, most of it deposited over the last year."

"The business has been dead for years. Where did he get the 10 million from?" Rigsby asked.

"And more importantly, where is it now?" Van Pelt chimed in.

"That's what his killers want to know," Cho said and then addressed Jane: "Hey, are you sure the widow doesn't know where it is?"

"No," Jane said. "She's genuinely broke and genuinely scared."

"You're not soft on her, are you?" Lisbon asked him.

"No. Maybe a little," Jane answered. "We need to talk to the lawyer."

"Bennet?" Lisbon asked. "No, _we_ need to talk to him. You need to stay well away." She paused and then asked, frowning, "Did you say 'maybe a little'?"

"She's a gorgeous, grieving widow." He looked at her. "Of course, maybe a little." Lisbon knew she couldn't hide the hurt and betrayal she was feeling. Jane waved it off. "Don't worry, it's not going to affect my work," he said as he laid down on the couch. "I'm a law enforcement professional. Gees."

Lisbon walked away, angry. Why did he have to make a joke of everything?

* * *

Jane took Van Pelt's seat once she had left the room. Adrianna Jonovic sighed happily when Jane sat down and said, "Ah, the handsome one." Jane smiled at her while Lisbon wanted to take her head off. What was it with the women in Jason Sands life hitting on her husband? Unaware of the relationship between the two people sitting across from the table, Jonovic went on, "Gay, yes?"

Jane grinned and looked at Lisbon. His smile faded when he noticed how annoyed she was. Clearly, she was still angry with him for saying that he might be a little soft on the widow. Unfortunately, things didn't improve much after Lisbon had let Jonovic go. When he grabbed his jacket, ready to take off, Rigsby had asked him where he was going.

"To speak to the widow."

"Oh yeah?" Lisbon asked, barely able to keep the irritation out of her voice.

"I want to know if she knows about the mistress," he explained, avoiding her eyes, but just as he was leaving, he couldn't help glancing at Lisbon one last time. She no longer looked angry. She looked sad. That was definitely worse. He couldn't dwell on it now though. He had to solve the case first. Then, he would make amends with his wife.

She watched Jane leave. She was never keen on Jane's plans but this one she hated. She wasn't completely aware of what he was planning, but she knew that one of the means to get there was to be nice and sweet to the widow. She wasn't a jealous woman, but it angered her that he did it in her face, knowing perfectly well that she couldn't say anything.

* * *

When Lisbon walked into her house, she could smell wonderful Italian food, which she knew was an apology meal. The table was beautifully set with a manicotti dish in the center. Jane walked to her, a bottle of wine in his hand.

"If you think you're going to win me over with manicotti, you've got another thing coming."

"Come on, Teresa, it wasn't that bad," he said as he opened the wine bottle.

"You tried to seduce another woman," she pointed out. "On a bet!"

"I did tell Rigsby that I couldn't seduce her, which is true. I couldn't when I'm already married."

"You said you wanted to though," she pointed out as she took a sip of wine.

"Well I'm married, not dead. If I had been unattached, it would have been a different story."

"I feel so reassured now," she said sarcastically.

Jane embraced her and rubbed her arms affectionately. "Aw, you know I wouldn't cheat. No woman really interests me other than you."

She closed her eyes and finally let it go. There was no point arguing about this. In the seven months she had been married to Jane, Lisbon had learned that there were things worth fighting about and things that were not. She knew deep down that he had no intention to even remotely cheat on her. This was not worth a fight. Besides, at least she got a good meal out of his latest stunt. She looked at the food on the table. "This looks amazing," she said. "I'm starving. Nothing could tear me away from this table."

"Wanna bet?"

~o~


	5. 05 Not a Morning Person

**05. Not a Morning Person**

~o~

Lisbon sighed impatiently as they were slowed down by the early morning traffic.

"I said I was sorry."

"I wrote a note on bright yellow paper and put it on the fridge. It said 'coffee' in huge black letters. How could you have missed it?" she asked angrily.

"We've been over this before. I forgot to write it on the list. I'll buy some tonight."

"It's not tonight that I need the coffee, it's right now at," she looked at the car clock, "6:09am when I'm being called into the middle of nowhere on a new case. We haven't even picked up Cho yet and the town's 3 hours away."

"I won't forget the coffee again, promise."

"Hmpf," was all Lisbon said.

Definitely not a morning person. Jane felt sorry for the local sheriff.

* * *

"Good night guys," Lisbon said to the other agents as she opened her hotel room door. "Good work today."

"Thanks," Rigsby said as he and the other two agents walked down the hall toward their own rooms.

Jane, whose room was two doors down from hers, gave her a knowing look before walking into his own room. She'd join him, but she really needed a shower first. What a day. Closing cases didn't occur as often or quickly before Jane was on her team, but it wasn't as exhausting either. Everything always had to be over the top with Jane. Lisbon took her clothes off, went into the bathroom, and turned the shower on. The water became hot quickly and she was thrilled to take a nice long, hot shower. As soon as the water was at a perfect temperature, she climbed into the shower and moaned happily as the water hit her tired body. Heaven. She really needed to relax before she gave Jane a piece of her mind. Suddenly the shower curtain was pulled to the side and a naked Jane climbed into the shower.

"JANE!" she yelled.

"You're calling me Jane now?" he quipped as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I call you Jane when you annoy me," she replied. "What are you doing in here?"

"I didn't want to wait." He buried his face in her neck and then raised his head to murmur in her ear, "You almost died tonight."

Lisbon snorted. "I did not almost die. You're exaggerating."

"You were in an isolated cabin, alone, with a murderer. You almost died."

"You're so melodramatic. I was fine."

He kissed her face. "I don't think you were. Imagine if you hadn't remembered the pineapple scent from the ranger's car?"

"Speaking of pineapple, never ever take a suspect from a hospital to take her to the middle of nowhere again."

He hugged her tighter. "As long as you promise you won't die on me."

"I can't promise that."

"Well promise to try."

"I promise," she whispered

* * *

The next day, Lisbon was relieved to finally be home again. As soon as she was inside the house, she left her suitcase by the door and went upstairs to the bathroom. She locked the door once she was inside. She needed the quiet, alone time to unwind. Her shower was long. She took her time in the bathroom; enjoying the use of her favorite shampoo, body wash and moisturizer. She felt fresh and relaxed when she came out an hour later. When she walked into the bedroom, she noticed that Jane had brought her suitcase and unpacked it for her. She smiled and got dressed. The smile turned into a grin when she smelled a familiar aroma as soon as she walked down the stairs.

"Is that coffee?" she asked Jane, who was busying himself in the kitchen.

Jane grinned proudly. "Picked up some at the local grocery store before we left this morning."

She kissed him on the cheek. "You're an angel."

"Not sure about that," he replied.

At least the next sheriff who'd work with her wouldn't have to deal with a coffee-less Agent Lisbon.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Promise the next one is longer and the one after that is even longer. The length of fic really depends on how the episode inspires me. As an FYI, Jane and Lisbon's house is imagined as Lisbon's house in Red Badge (2x03).

Thanks for all the _awesome_ reviews :)

Finally, since this is a short fic, I decided to look up some definitions of Amalgamation for you all. I used to have access to the online OED back in my student days. I'm very sad not to give you an OED definition.

_Amalgamation_: 1. The merging of two or more businesses into single entity. 2. the action or process of amalgamating, merging.

You get the drift. It doesn't apply just for businesses. It's also used in chemistry, I believe. I, of course, used it as a metaphor.

~o~


	6. 06 New Couch, New Liver

~o~

**06. New Couch, New Liver**

~o~

Lisbon sighed.

So annoying.

In front of Van Pelt, of all people.

"Don't you care about your eyes?"

She sighed again. "Yes, Jane, I care."

"Nevada sun is really harsh on the eyes, Lisbon."

"The Nevada sun is the same as the California one. Besides, we don't know if the body's in Nevada."

"In the desert, the sun's rays are far stronger." He rummaged through the glove compartment. "How hard is it to wear sunglasses anyway?"

"I don't see you wearing any," Lisbon pointed out.

"Aha!" Jane exclaimed proudly as he retrieved a pair of sunglasses and handed them to Lisbon. "I'm old. There's nothing anyone can do about my eyesight now. You, on the other hand, have to be careful. You're still young."

Lisbon groaned in annoyance. "Give me a break. You're 3 years older than me." Despite her strong objections, she still took the sunglasses Jane had given her.

Van Pelt silently watched from the backseat the exchange between her boss and the consultant. She was starting to realize that such banter was not a rare occurrence between the two. No wonder Rigsby and Cho took the other car. She admired her boss. Lisbon had the career Van Pelt aspired to have. Now that she was getting to know her better, she also admired the agent that she was. Lisbon was a small woman in a world of big boys, but easily took her place in it. She thought car trips like this one would give her the opportunity to get to know Lisbon better. Unfortunately, getting to know Lisbon better involved listening to Jane and Lisbon bicker for over an hour. Van Pelt was definitely starting to regret her decision not to ride with Rigsby and Cho.

* * *

When Lisbon and Jane got married, they could hardly take a week off together to go on their honeymoon, so they went away for the weekend. Their options were limited so Jane had convinced her to go to Las Vegas. The weekend had been a very good sample of what their married life was going to be. They had arrived late on Friday night and had immediately checked in at their hotel. They had spent the rest of their evening, the night and the next morning in bed. Lisbon had felt loved and appreciated. Then Jane had spent all afternoon gambling. He made tons of money, but got them kicked out of their hotel. Lisbon had been furious. The amount of money he had won barely made up for the fact that they had been kicked out of their honeymoon hotel. He spent the rest of Saturday and the whole of Sunday making it up to her. He first booked a magnificent suite at another hotel. He then spent the rest of the weekend being extra sweet to her. She only forgave him when he used all his winnings on a small townhouse.

So when he suggested that he would gamble while she and Van Pelt would talk with the head of security, Lisbon could barely hold back a smile, their honeymoon flashing in her mind. It had, overall, been a good weekend. Still, she was wary of his gambling and was not overly enthusiastic when he asked her for $100. She reluctantly agreed when he offered to give the money back to her double. Her car suspension had been a little dodgy lately and she wouldn't mind the extra $100 to cover the garage expenses.

When Lisbon gave him the money, Jane changed his promise and confidently told her that he would give her triple the money back. She smiled despite herself. She knew he would. He kissed the money, no doubt reminiscing their honeymoon as well, and went to the tables with one final look at her.

And despite her annoyance at him causing trouble once again, she was secretly thrilled by all the money he ended up winning.

* * *

Jane kneeled down next to the bed to kiss a sleeping Lisbon. She turned over as she woke up. "What time is it?" she asked him.

"Just a little after 12. I only wanted to say good night. Go back to sleep," he whispered as he got up.

"No," she protested and extended her arms to invite him in. "Stay for a bit."

Not needing to be asked twice, he laid on top of her and started to kiss her. "You looked so beautiful today with those emeralds on you."

She chuckled. "Couldn't you have bought us a couch instead? Ours is good for the dumpster."

"I did," he replied as he kissed her neck. "A whole set. It's already in our living room."

"You know," Lisbon said as she began to undress him, "I wonder if we would be having this much sex if we weren't sneaking around in hotel rooms so much."

"Are you saying that you find the secrecy more attractive than me?" Jane feigned hurt.

"Please. Don't even try. You know you're good looking."

"Show me how good looking you think I am," he told her with a twinkle in the eye.

She answered him with a kiss.

* * *

"What was that about?" Lisbon asked as they left the house. "With the son-in-law?"

"Can't tell you," Jane told her.

"Can't or won't?"

"You wouldn't like the answer. Just trust me on this."

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Will anyone's life be in danger?"

"No, I swear." Jane held up his hand.

"I am so going to regret this," she said as she got in the car.

* * *

When Jane got back to his house around 5 o'clock that morning, Lisbon was sleeping on their new couch, a blanket half falling to the floor. He tried to be as quiet as possible, but she woke as soon as he closed the door.

"Patrick?"

"Um, who else would it be?" he asked.

She sat up and wrapped the blanket around her. "Where have you been?"

"We caught Jim Meier's killer: his son-in-law."

Lisbon noticed the silver case he was carrying. "What's in the case? Money? Have you been gambling?"

Jane put the case on the table and sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her. "Yes, but it's not what you think. I was just catching Daniel. The money's for a good cause."

"Please tell me it's for therapy," she said as she rested her head against his chest.

Jane chuckled. "No, it's for a liver."

"A liver?" Lisbon asked, confused. "Oh," she simply said once she realized what he meant.

She fell back on the couch as he got up. "I have to go to the hospital now," he told her. "I'll be back before you leave for work."

She nodded. "I like the couch," she told him as she closed her eyes. She would welcome a couple more hours of sleep while he delivered a massive amount of money to a sick woman.

She had married a good man.

~o~

**Author's Notes:** Okay, I know I say this every single time, but thank you guys so much for all the reviews and favourites. You guys totally motivate me to write more. I hope this series continues to live up to your expectations. I also want to thank fadding_ripples at LiveJournal who betas everything. She's just awesome. I went through some sort of slump writing chapters 12-15 (I like to write things way ahead of posting in case I have a mega writer's block). I wanted to finish them before posting this one (sort of as my reward). Hopefully, the writing of the next few chapters won't be as difficult and I'll be able to update this a lot more rapidly. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the support. You guys rock :)


	7. 07 Still Here

**07. Still Here**

~o~

Lisbon obviously didn't believe that Kristina Frye was a psychic, but unlike Jane, she didn't think the woman was a murderer beyond doubt. Clearly, Jane wasn't comfortable with a reminder of his fraudulent past. Lisbon knew she would have to deal with a childish consultant throughout the case and that's not even counting the rants she'd have to endure when they're home. She'd already had a sizeable sample last night. Nevertheless, Jane was right that she may be, at the very least, a valuable witness. One that certainly was a bit of a pain in the ass.

"Truly, I would love to help you," Kristina Frye told them, "but my practice is bound by the same client confidentiality codes that all doctors abide by."

"You have a professional therapist license with the state?" Lisbon asked, surprised.

Without skipping a beat, Frye answered, "Yes, I do," glancing at Lisbon for a brief second before turning her attention back to Jane.

"Your client's dead," Jane pointed out.

"Her earthly vessel is dead. When her soul completes its journey, I can ask her if it's all right to share her problems with you in more detail. I've recorded all her sessions on CD. If she says yes, I'll give them to you."

Lisbon watched Jane as Frye spoke. As annoying as the woman was, the sparring between Kristina and her husband was quite entertaining.

"Why bother with that?" he asked her. "Why not just ask her who killed her?"

"Of course, I will, but she may not know. Death doesn't grant omniscience."

"You're good."

"I like to think so," Frye replied.

"Yes, you do."

"I think it's important to love oneself. How do you feel about yourself?"

Jane threw his head back, laughing softly. "You tell me. And forget about the $500 an hour. I'm on civil pay."

"Okay. For free then," Frye answered and Lisbon looked down, listening intently. The woman was obviously good and she was curious about what she was going to say. "I think you act assured and arrogant, but inside you are troubled with deep guilt and self loathing. A recent trauma in your past, perhaps? But you're more than a little unstable." She turned to Lisbon. "You have your work cut out for you," Frye told her, looking at her square in the eye. Something passed between the two women. Lisbon cocked her head to the side a bit, almost asking a silent question to the other woman. Kristina Frye looked at her, answering the silent question.

She knew.

Damn California law with having marriage licenses being public.

"You are good," Van Pelt commented.

"Please," Jane retorted, "not to boast but I am quite a well known horrible tragedy. Maybe a half hour on the internet would tell you I'm consumed with guilt and self-loathing."

"One look in your eyes would tell me that. What makes you think I would spend any time researching you on the internet? A little self-involved maybe?" She asked Lisbon, "May I go?"

"Yes. Thank you for your time."

"Feel free to call me," she told Lisbon, "any time."

"We will." Lisbon repressed a smile and then gave a meaningful look to Jane, trying to tell him that Kristina Frye knew.

"What?"

Totally clueless. Definitely self-involved.

* * *

They didn't have time to be alone until Jane got home that night, but as soon as he walked through the door, Lisbon asked:

"You know she knows about us, right?"

"What?" Jane's mind had been somewhere else. "Oh yeah, of course she does," he said once he realized what she was talking about. "I suspect checking marriage licenses was the first thing she did after looking me up online."

Lisbon groaned. "Who checks marriage licenses?"

"Psychics. They try to get as much information on their client before a session, or in Kristina Frye's case, showing off."

Lisbon looked at him, amused. "Are you actually criticizing the woman for showing off? Hypocritical much?"

"Meh, I show off my true abilities. She shows off real abilities under false pretenses," he explained. "Also cops."

"What?" Lisbon asked confused. What did cops have anything to do with showing off fake psychic abilities?

"Cops. They check marriage licenses." He added with a smile, "For victims and suspects, not colleagues or superiors, or even consultants, for that matter."

"This is going to bite me in the ass one day, I know it," Lisbon groaned and added, "By the way, didn't I tell you to play nice with Kristina Frye?"

Jane shrugged as he took his jacket off and put it on a chair. "I did play nice. I could have been much worse."

"Well, play nicer next time," she ordered.

* * *

"Heard from Rosemary's probate lawyer, " Rigsby said to the team the next morning. "Guess who she just added to her will?"

"Kristina Frye," Jane guessed without missing a beat.

"The ink wasn't even dry yet," Rigsby confirmed.

"Kristina told us she knew in advance that Rosemary was in danger," Van Pelt defended Frye. "Why would she tell us if she's guilty?"

"How diabolically clever of her," Jane mused as Lisbon's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Make us dismiss her as a suspect because she made herself look like one."

Lisbon considered this as Van Pelt continued defending Frye. "Or maybe, just maybe, she has a rare and precious gift and is trying to help us."

"A rare and precious gift," Jane repeated. "Tell me," he said to Van Pelt as he got up from the couch to stand next to her, "who gets these gifts anyhow? How come no one has the gift for seeing horse race results? And how come dead people always talk such tedious drivel?"

"Play nice," Lisbon told him. "Van Pelt is entitled to her opinion."

"Not if it's wrong. This is like believing in the Easter Bunny."

"Who says there's no Easter Bunny?" Rigsby quipped.

They all smiled at Rigsby's humor as Van Pelt's phone rang.

"Van Pelt," she answered. "Oh, hi. Wow. Thanks. Got it, we'll be right over." Van Pelt hung up the phone and turned back to the others. "That was Kristina. She says she's picking up on something."

"Hm," Jane murmured, unimpressed.

"Something that might help us," Van Pelt deadpanned.

"Why don't you go talk to her?" Lisbon suggested to Van Pelt, who smiled appreciatively.

"I'm coming," Jane announced as he put his jacket on.

"Does he have to?" Van Pelt asked her boss.

"If she's conning us," Lisbon explained, "we need to know."

"She isn't," Van Pelt said. "I can tell."

"Behave," Lisbon reminded Jane as they left.

* * *

Lisbon stood by the lake, watching a car being pulled out of it.

"If anyone needs arresting, it's Kristina Frye," Jane told Lisbon as he came to stand next to her. " She knew that Rosemary was in danger. She knew where to find the car. The murder weapon. Which means that she either does have supernatural powers or she was involved in the crime."

"Come on," Lisbon protested. "She simply did what you do so well: with an air of confidence, she made an educated guess. Where else would you dump a car around here? She's a good guesser."

"Well, yes," Jane conceded. "That's a possibility too."

"Yes, and that's what you object to, isn't it?" Lisbon taunted him, amused. "Not that she's a con artist but that she's so good at it. Maybe even better than you." She sure loved to tease him.

"Not at all. I... all right, yes." Lisbon smiled triumphantly, still highly amused.

"Not better than me, mind you, but she is good. And it's the good ones that are the most dangerous," he added somberly.

For a second, she wondered if he was talking about himself.

* * *

Lisbon looked around the bullpen, but couldn't see Jane anywhere. She realized that he must have gone home already. She took a deep breath and tried not to chicken out. She would have preferred talking to Jane before doing this, but at the same time, they kept the marriage a secret for her sake, not his. This was ultimately her decision.

She knocked on Minelli's door and let herself in when she heard "Come in."

She smiled awkwardly at her boss. This was going to be difficult.

"Good job on closing the case, Lisbon."

"Thank you, sir. There's something I wanted to discuss with you, if you have a minute" she said as confidently as she could.

"Sure. Sit down," he gestured to the chair in front of his desk.

She sat down and decided to get straight to the heart of the matter. "Jane and I are married."

Immediately, Minelli sprung forward and opened his mouth. Lisbon held up her hand, asking him to let her finish.

"We have been married since last March. We checked with Personnel and the fraternization rules do not apply with consultants. We have officially declared it to the Bureau and it is mentioned in our Personnel files."

"How come I wasn't made aware of this by Personnel?" Minelli couldn't help but ask.

"We asked for confidentiality," Lisbon explained. "I know I should have told you, but I was afraid it would get out. This could really hurt my career. Even though we're not breaking any rules, I am sure I would be seen as a joke if people knew that I married Jane."

"The fraternization rules are there for a reason, Lisbon. It doesn't really matter much to me that you have found a loophole. I should assign Jane to someone else's team."

"Please don't," Lisbon told him. "Married or not, I am able to keep a much tighter leash around Jane's neck than anyone else. He works well with my team. Besides, doesn't the fact that you had no idea about us prove that we're able to keep our personal and professional lives separate?"

"Hmpf," Minelli grunted.

"Keeping this a secret is forcing us to be extremely careful and we are professional around each other at work. Well, as professional as Jane can be."

"I don't like this."

Lisbon looked down, unable to meet her boss's eyes. "I know."

"You swear this has been cleared by Personnel?"

Lisbon nodded.

"And you keep this out of the office?"

Lisbon nodded again.

"That man will be the death of me. Not only do I have to deal with the AG office, various politicians and an insane amount of lawsuits, and you know I hate lawyers, now he's taken my best agent."

"He hasn't taken me away; I'm still here."

Minelli didn't say anything. She could tell he was disappointed. She had never thought much about his reaction other than his anger. She didn't expect disappointment. She wanted to say something, anything, to make it disappear. She couldn't un-marry Jane. She wasn't sure there was anything to say.

"I'm sorry about all this," was all she could say as she got up to leave the office.

When she opened the door and was about to walk out, she heard Minelli's soft voice, "so am I."

The depth of his disappointment had really been unexpected and Lisbon didn't know how to react to it. So she simply left the office.

* * *

That night she went to bed at around midnight, after waiting for Jane to come home the last several hours. When she married him, she had promised herself never to wait up for him and she had broken that promise more times than she cared to count. Tonight, she wouldn't, so she went to bed as soon as she started to fall asleep on the couch. Once in bed, however, she found herself unable to fall asleep as resentment toward Jane started to creep up in her heart. This absent, volatile husband was the reason why she had disappointed and broken the trust of a man who was as close to a father as anyone else had been in her life.

She heard the front door open and close about an hour later. When the bedroom door opened, Lisbon closed her eyes and forced herself into a deep, slow breathing rhythm. She most likely wouldn't fool him, but he probably wouldn't call her on it. He would guess that she was angry and hurt and would probably wait until the morning for a confrontation. When the mattress creaked under Jane's weight, she felt him roll her over. He wrapped his arms around her and held her as close as he could. Her face buried in his chest, she could hear his heart beating faster than usual and feel his rapid breathing. Something was wrong.

"Patrick?" she asked, leaning back enough to look at him.

He shook his head and buried his face in her hair. He obviously didn't want to talk about it. She wrapped her arms around him, and closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep. She knew she would wake up in the same position in the morning. He wasn't going to let her go tonight.

As sleep claimed her, Jane softly whispered in her ear, with an edge of despair to his voice, "I love you. I love you so much."

She slightly tightened her arms around him, telling him that she heard him and felt the same.

~o~

**Author's Notes: **Thank you so, so, so much for all the reviews. This definitely makes the writing easier. I also like when you guys tell me what you like so I can incorporate it in future chapters (although I'm about 10 chapters ahead). Nevertheless, I take what you say into account.

Thanks to fading_ripples at LJ who has betaed every chapter of this fic :)


	8. 08 The Problem with Cubs

**08. The Problem with Cubs**

~o~

Van Pelt walked to Jane and Lisbon who were adorably cooing over the baby. She tried to hide the smile that was forming on her lips. The scene before her was very cute.

"The baby's name is Kaylee. Social services will be here in a minute," Van Pelt told them before going back to the crime scene.

Lisbon took Kaylee's hand and brought it to her nose. "You know what I love about babies? They smell so good." Kaylee grabbed her finger and Lisbon started dancing her finger in the air, forcing the baby's hand to follow the dance.

"Except when they don't."

Lisbon laughed. "True." She wriggled her finger free from Kaylee's hand and leaned back against the car. She watched Jane playing with the baby. He was clearly smitten.

"So what happens to her?" he asked.

"Social services have foster moms that specialize in babies. We'll take care of her until we can find Patrice's family."

Jane smiled as Kaylee tried to grab the magazine he had tucked under his arm. "If she has a family," he points out to Lisbon.

Lisbon nodded as Van Pelt approached them with a woman. "Social Services," the woman said. "I'm here for Kaylee."

Jane reluctantly let her take the baby. "Bye," he waved at Kaylee. He touched Kaylee's back until the woman walked away with her and waved one last time. Lisbon watched him, amused. He was such a baby person.

Meanwhile, Minelli and two men joined them. "Lisbon, Jane, Van Pelt," he said, pointing to all of them respectively. "Detectives Blakely," he indicated the older man and then the younger one as he said, "and Preciado, Davis Homicide. They will be your liaisons with Davis P.D. I speak for myself and your chief when I urge you all to work harmoniously."

Lisbon was looking into the distance as Minelli spoke, which didn't go unnoticed by Jane. Something was going on.

"That means play nice," Minelli stated. Lisbon smiled a little, but still didn't look at Minelli. "Keep me posted," he told the team, avoiding looking at Lisbon as well.

"Hi," Jane said to the two detectives once Minelli had gone. "So your name's Blakely?" he asked. The older detective nodded. "First responder was a Blakely," Jane pointed out.

"That's my son," Blakely explained.

"Poor kid," Preciado commented. "First time rolling up on a body, puked his guts out later."

"He'll be okay," Blakely reassured his partner and then looked at Jane and Lisbon. "Listen, just so we're clear. Now you can call us liaisons if you like, but this is still a Davis P.D. case. Our Narcotics Unit's been trying to bust Rick Carris for years."

"We appreciate your position," Lisbon said diplomatically. "Have you checked the liquor store for surveillance cameras?" And bam! Lisbon stroke. Sometimes Jane wished he had Lisbon's finesse.

"Not yet," Preciado answered, clearly peeved. "We're still questioning the guests."

Lisbon looked at Van Pelt and nudged her head a bit. "I'll get on it," Van Pelt said immediately.

"I got a dumb question," Jane said. "How come you guys let Joe Purcell slip away?"

"Stuff happens, right?" Lisbon jumped in, trying to minimize the damage.

"Yeah," Preciado answered. "Stuff happens."

"Yeah, when we bring in Rick Carris, we'll give you a call," Blakely told them as he and his partner began to walk away.

"You're confident it was Carris who did this?" Lisbon asked them. "Purcell seems like the type of man who had quite a few enemies."

"Yeah, we're confident," Preciado said.

"What if Purcell wasn't the target. What if the girl was the target?" Jane asked.

"What makes you think that?" Blakely asked him.

"What makes you think she wasn't?"

"Either way, she's the place to start with the investigation," Lisbon pointed out. "She was only here for a moment so the shooter came in as soon as she arrived, which suggests that he or they followed her here. So we'll retrace her steps. What's Patrice Matigan's current address?"

"We don't know," Blakely answered as Preciado was obviously starting to get angry. "We checked the address on her license. She hadn't lived there for several months."

"You're making this more difficult than it needs to be," Preciado jumped in. "We know who done it. This was a hit ordered by Rick Carris. If he's in town, we'll round him up. You guys relax. See the sights," he added, condescendingly. "We'll call you when there's any news."

When the two detectives were done, Lisbon asked Jane, "When are you going to learn to cool it without being told?"

"Oh, come on," Jane defended himself. "They pissed you off too, the sexist pigs."

"They were," Lisbon exclaimed.

"I just said they were."

"You were saying it ironically," she admonished him.

Jane looked at her, bewildered. Sometimes his wife was so off. He hadn't liked the way they were treating her any more than she had. "Here," he gave her the magazine he had been holding. "There were a couple of issues of that in her car."

She took the magazine and read, "Fifty Fresh and Floral Idea for a Spring Wedding? Why on Earth would Patrice Matigan have this?"

"The address," Jane pointed out as he walked to the car.

"Lacey Wells," Lisbon read. "65758 Rancho Highway. Let's go," she said as she joined Jane in the car.

"So what's going on between you and Minelli?" Jane asked as soon as she shut her car door.

"What do you mean?"

"You two can barely look at one another and he's never been one to mince his words, but he's been talking to you particularly harshly lately."

Lisbon sighed and started the car, giving her a few extra seconds as she gathered her thoughts. She only spoke once they were outside the parking lot. "I told him about us."

Jane looked at her, surprised. "When?"

"The day we closed the Rosemary Tennant case." She didn't need to say more. He knew which day she was talking about. He had never told her what had been wrong that night and she had respected his privacy. She had a feeling that it had to do with his late wife and child, so she didn't pry. Not asking him about what happened led to her not sharing Minelli's disappointment. She hadn't done it on purpose. She just hadn't been in the mood to talk about it.

"He's disappointed," Jane concluded.

Lisbon nodded. "Yes. I expected his anger, but not his disappointment."

"Oh, I did," Jane said and smiled sadly when Lisbon glanced at him in surprise. "Oh, come on, Lisbon, you know he sees you as a daughter. He wanted Prince Charming for you and you ended up with the Bitter Cousin instead."

Lisbon pondered over this. She did have an inkling that Minelli objected more to her choice of life partner than the secrecy of the marriage. "Well, you're Prince Charming to me," she told him.

Jane laughed, but there was a hint of bitterness in his laughter. "You've got a really twisted view of Prince Charming, Lisbon."

* * *

That night, Lisbon felt completely wiped out after a long day of going back and forth with the list of possible suspects and motives. She opened the fridge in the hopes of finding something snackable. "Why is this thing always empty?" she asked irritably. "I'm starving."

Jane peeked inside the fridge and took out a few ingredients. "Why didn't you eat your salad?"

"I just know Lacey Wells is going to identify Preciado," she said, ignoring his question. She sat down on the chair by the desk. "I think they're going to use a photo of me at the David P.D. shooting range."

Jane chuckled. "You know, you were doing your best with those detectives. It's not your fault they're assholes," he commented while he was preparing a sandwich. "You'll get back into Minelli's good graces in no time, don't worry. He loves you. He can't stay angry for too long." He placed the sandwich in front of her and kissed the top of her head.

She leaned back and took his hand, squeezing it gently. "This case is such a nightmare."

"I know, but I'm here. We'll close this thing soon, I promise."

* * *

The next day, Lisbon's prediction came to fruition. Lacey Wells identify Preciado as the skinny, dark haired man and they brought him in for questioning.

"Well?" Lisbon asked Jane as they walked back to her office after interrogating Preciado.

"Well, it's just funny what bad liars cops are. I guess they're not used to concealing themselves under questioning."

"I'm a cop; I lie to you all the time," Lisbon retorted. "You never catch it."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but you're translucent, my dear." She rolled her eyes at this as Jane continued, "I always know when you're lying. Sometimes I let you think you've fooled me just so you don't feel bad."

"Name one time."

Jane cleared his throat. "Last Thanksgiving, you said you were going back East to your brother's house. But I knew you were actually planning on having three days at home alone to watch old movies and eat ice cream."

"Okay, so that's one time." Jane looked at her, trying to suppress a smile. He knew it was a little devilish to question her ability to lie when she tried to conceal their marriage every day to their colleagues. Slightly annoyed for making her doubt herself, Lisbon changed the subject. "What about Preciado?"

"His stressed pulse rate was thready," Jane explained. "Dishonest."

"Thready?"

"Hard to describe pulses. Dishonest pulse feels different to an indignant pulse. In this case, hard to say what he's lying about exactly," Jane elaborated as Lisbon took her car keys out of her briefcase. "But he was signaling deception from first to last. There's something off about his whole story. Where're we going?"

"To the zoo. They have new tiger cubs."

"Oh..." Jane played along and then said, "Liar."

"Oh, very good," Lisbon praised him, amused. "I'm gonna speak with Blakely," she then explained.

"Blakely's not gonna tell you anything."

"No, Blakely's old school. He'll back his partner to the moon, but his wife might be less steadfast." Jane nodded in understanding as Lisbon went on, "I'll keep the husband in the office while you go and talk to the wife."

"Ah, sweet," Jane commented and as they walked to the elevator, he said, "By the way, 'good looking man'?"

"What?"

"That's what you said to Preciado."

She scoffed. "What? I was boosting his ego so he would give us more info."

"Uh, huh," he said, unconvinced.

* * *

"Now we're arresting them," Minelli said to Lisbon once they brought Blakely in. "Hooray," he added sarcastically.

"We had the right. He assaulted Jane. And he looks good for the murders," Lisbon defended herself.

"Before you charge a cop with murder, he better look better than good. He better look like the damn Mona Lisa."

"Yes, I..."

Minelli interrupted her, "Because if you're wrong, we will have no murder suspect." Lisbon felt like a child being scolded by her father. She cast her eyes downward as Minelli continued scolding her, "The attorney general will have no narcotics case against Carris, and we will have wrongly arrested a distinguished veteran officer in his home jurisdiction."

Lisbon smiled tightly as Minelli walked away. "Yes, boss," she said a little more petulantly than she would have liked. No matter what Jane said, she was still in the dog house.

* * *

Lisbon was having a good weekend. The case was finally over. It didn't take that long to solve it, but it had been so difficult from start to finish that she was grateful that it was finally over. She was happily enjoying a novel with a cup of tea by her side while Jane was taking Kaylee to the Blakelys. Lisbon knew, however, that something was wrong with Jane the second he walked through the door. She put her novel down next to her cup of tea on the coffee table as Jane joined her on the couch.

"What's wrong?" she asked, hoping that he would tell her for once.

"I just left Blakely's house."

"They're going to take the baby?" she asked and he nodded in response. "You really liked her, didn't you?" She leaned closer and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"She reminded me of my daughter."

Lisbon nodded. "I thought she did."

"I miss my daughter every day, but I also miss being a father. I miss having a child around."

"Patrick..."

"I know, I know, we agreed," he sighed. "No babies before we catch Red John. It's the right thing to do."

She wrapped her arms around him, trying to comfort him. They remained silent for a few minutes until Jane broke the silence:

"Sometimes I'm not sure I want to have children again, even after we catch Red John."

"What?" Lisbon asked, surprised. They had talked about children several times and they had always reached the same conclusion: no babies until Red John was out of the picture. However, Jane had never even hinted that he may not want another child.

"I really want one, but I'm not sure I should. I failed to protect my daughter. What if the same thing happens to our child?"

"It won't. You were a good father. No one could have prevented what happened. No one."

"I'm still not sure I feel right about having another baby."

Lisbon sighed. If only they could catch Red John. She was sure that once Red John was caught, things would really fall into place. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there, ok?" she told Jane.

He nodded and kissed her. She was right; there was no point talking about it now.

"Next Thursday is Thanksgiving," he said, trying to alleviate the mood.

"Yes, so?"

"Want to spend the weekend watching old movies and eating ice cream?"

She smiled at him. She had a feeling that this Thanksgiving was going to be better than last year's.

* * *

The day after Thanksgiving, Lisbon decided to forego old movies, ice cream and sex, and took Jane out for a surprise. He had remained patient the entire journey there, but once inside the park after Lisbon had paid for the tickets, he couldn't help asking:

"Where are we?" Jane asked.

She glared at him with a 'you're kidding me' look.

"I know this is a zoo, but what are we doing here?"

She smiled. "I told you; they've got new tiger cubs. If we can't have our own 'cubs', we can at least look at the tigers' cubs."

Jane smiled happily at her and she grabbed him by the lapels, forcing him to lean down so she could kiss him.

~o~

**Author's Notes:** Okay, so I say this for every chapter, but thank you, thank you, thank you _so_ much for all the reviews! The response has been overwhelming and you guys completely made my week! Special thanks to 'fan of mentalist', who reviewed anonymously and couldn't thank personally. I know there were a lot of expectations for this particular episode tag, so I hope I didn't disappoint too many people. You guy are the best!


	9. 09 Lovefool

**09. Lovefool**

~o~

Jane, Van Pelt, and Rigsby were all laughing when Lisbon entered the bullpen. "What's so funny?" she asked them.

"Some trick I've been doing. Wanna see?" Jane asked her.

She looked at the two agents who looked at her, hopeful. Lisbon shrugged. The day was slow anyway. It wouldn't hurt to take a five minute break. "Okay."

"It's a trick that requires your participation."

"Okay," she said, hesitating. What kind of participation did she have to do?

"Are you ready?" he asked her.

"Yes."

"Feeling awake? Mentally alert?" he went on.

"Yes," she answered again.

"Fantastic. Okay, I want you to imagine a screen between you and I," he said, gesticulating as he spoke. "On that screen I want you to project a basic shape like a square, but not a square. Got it?"

"Okay."

"Lock it in. Now I want you to project another shape and put that shape around the shape you already have."

She thought about it for a second, then said, "Okay."

Jane smiled at her. They rarely allowed themselves to have a bit of fun at the office. Lisbon's desire to keep their relationship strictly professional at work prevented it. This was making him rather giddy, and he was very close to do a 'happy dance', but he doubted Lisbon would see the positive side to that kind of behavior so he kept his enthusiasm to himself. "Excellent. Here's the fun part. Now concentrate and project that onto the back of my mind. Look right here. Open up your mind." Lisbon nodded and he continued, "And send it to me. Okay, now I'm starting to feel it. It's a triangle inside a circle," he stated with confidence.

Lisbon smiled and said, "No."

Jane looked surprised and confused. "It's not?" Either his wife was beginning to catch on to his tricks or he was getting worse at doing them. However, he HAD managed to get Rigsby and Van Pelt. On the other hand, it was Rigsby and Van Pelt. Not a hard feat.

"No, I was thinking of an octagon inside a rectangle," Lisbon explained sheepishly.

He looked at her closely and saw a little twitch in her eye that was more than familiar to him by now. This was the look she had when she was lying to him. "Liar," he called her out.

"All right," she conceded, smiling. "All right, you got me." Jane had always been able to tell when she lied, after all.

"Pretty good, huh?" Van Pelt commented. "He got me and Rigsby the same way."

"How did you do that?" Lisbon asked Jane, smiling.

"Oh, that's nothing." He shrugged. "That's just the calibration key to real mind-reading. Now I have access to all your innermost thoughts."

"Yeah, right," Lisbon deadpanned. After knowing him for two years and being married to him for eight months, she was not going to be fooled by his tricks and gimmicks.

"I'm serious," he insisted.

"Okay," Lisbon replied, amused and unconvinced. "So what am I thinking right now?"

"You're thinking 'I am so glad Jane is joking around and that he can't actually read my mind'."

"No," she denied, but then conceded: "Well, actually, yes, but not for the reason you think."

"What reason do I think?" He asked seriously.

"Never you mind." Lisbon became embarrassed. He knew perfectly well that she was trying to keep all actions and thoughts professional at work. He really loved to tease her, the little devil.

"You're blushing," Rigsby pointed out as he passed by. Lisbon frowned, suddenly realizing that she and Jane weren't alone. Jane had that effect on her. Even before they were married, just by looking at her, Jane easily made her forget the world around them and wrapped her in this bubble that included only the two of them. She had often wondered if he had that effect on other people or if it was just her. She also wondered if he felt the same way during those moments.

"You _are_ blushing," Jane teased her. It was funny how she got so easily embarrassed sometimes.

Fortunately for her, Cho arrived with a case and saved Lisbon, to her great relief, from further embarrassment. One day, she was going to murder her husband in his sleep.

* * *

"They're cute," Jane commented when he and Lisbon got in the car.

"What?" Lisbon asked.

"Rigsby and Van Pelt. They're very sweet."

Lisbon rolled her eyes. Her interest where Rigsby and Van Pelt were concerned was far from their cuteness factor. "As long as it stays within the patient/pseudo-doctor boundaries, they can be as cute as they want," she told Jane.

"You have a problem with co-workers being romantically involved, Mrs. Jane?" Jane asked mischievously.

"I don't, but the bureau has a problem with _agents_ involved in a sexual relationship."

"So precise, Agent Lisbon. I still think they're sweet. It's like there's a bubble wrapped around them that shields them from the outside world."

Lisbon frowned, wondering for a second if Jane had actually read her thoughts earlier that day. Of course, she knew he hadn't, but sometimes he really made her feel like he could. Jane was uncanny. Well, she hadn't thought of approaching this subject so soon, but this was obviously the best opener she would have in a long time. Taking a deep breath, she took the plunge: "Do you feel like that about us sometimes?" she asked quietly. "Like there's a bubble around us?"

Jane grinned, pleased that his wife had actually shared some of her feelings about their relationship. She loved him; he knew that. However, sometimes she treated their relationship almost like a business deal. He wasn't the most romantic guy, but he liked to think that his wife cared about intimacy and affection as much as he did.

"Of course," he answered, as if it was a matter-of-fact. He laced his fingers through her locks and she smiled at the loving gesture. He watched her intently as she drove and explained, "I have to struggle to stop looking at you sometimes. This morning, for example, I found it hard to get back into work-mode. You were so lovely, standing there, embarrassed and blushing. It's hard to get back to reality when this little world of our own is so nice and comfortable."

Lisbon smiled. So he had felt the same thing she had that morning. She needed to stop feeling so insecure about her marriage and her relationship with her husband. He loved her. They had an intimate connection that wasn't going away. She had to remember it; believe in it.

However, reality slapped her in the face. Hard. Halfway through the case, they had Ben Machado in custody and a very angry Jane. He had easily guessed what had happened to Dave Martin. Ben Machado had no guilt over murdering his friend for money.

"Machado helped burn Dave Martin alive out of greed."

"Jane," Lisbon said calmly, "we're officers of the law."

"You are," Jane retorted. "I don't care about the law. I care about justice and justice says Machado deserves to suffer."

"That's not justice, it's vengeance."

"What's the difference?" Jane asked her.

Before she could answer, Cho popped his head in Lisbon's office. "What do you want us to do with Machado, Boss?"

"Let him go," Lisbon answered him.

"Really?" Cho asked, surprised. "Like 'let him go' let him go?"

"Really, like that," she confirmed.

"Okay."

"Trying some reverse psychology?" Jane asked, gesticulating mockingly.

"You talk tough. Maybe it's time you learned that there's consequences. If Machado gets hurt," she said to him seriously, "it's on you."

"Fine with me," he consented as he began to walk away. As he was about to leave her office, he turned around and said, "We've never discussed this, because I thought it went without saying, but when I catch Red John, I'm going to cut him open and watch him die slowly like he did with my wife and child." Lisbon remained silent, watching him closely as she let the words sink in. She felt a sudden pain attack, her brain and ears started to lightly buzz. Her heart began to beat faster. She felt that her whole world was crashing down. Jane, either oblivious or impervious to her distress, calmly stated, "Now if you have a problem with that, we should talk."

"Then let's talk," Lisbon said, having regained her speech abilities."Because when we catch Red John, we're going to take him into custody and he's going to be tried in a court of law."

"Not if I'm still breathing."

"If you try and do violence to him, I will try and stop you. If you succeed in doing violence to him, I will arrest you." She felt as if she wasn't in her own body. She heard herself speak, say the rational words in a calm manner, but it didn't seem like she had control of herself. It was as if someone else was speaking for her. How could she be so calm?

"I understand."

"I hope so." Did she just calmly tell her husband that she would choose the law over him? Did he just tell her that he was choosing his dead wife over her? Was this what her marriage had become? Was this what her marriage had always been and she hadn't been aware of it?

"But I'm glad we talked. I had no idea you were so bourgeois and conventional on the issue." He smiled at her and she felt like slapping him. She gave him a tight smile, but couldn't hold it long. She was pretty sure that she had just witnessed the death of her marriage.

Jane walked away, aware of his wife's distress. He wished he could change things, but he had promised himself that he wouldn't let anything, or anyone, get in the way of avenging his wife and child, not even his current wife. Did she not see that he had given her the blessing to arrest him guilt-free? That he understood the tight spot he was putting her in and would never resent her for ending their marriage, now or when he killed Red John?

He couldn't dwell on it though, he had to make a little miserable bastard confess his heinous crime.

* * *

That evening, Jane wasn't home. He was probably planning a scheme she wouldn't approve of. Under any other circumstances, she would be trying to figure out what he was going to do, but right at this moment, she didn't care. For the eight months she had been married, and also the months she and Jane had been dating before getting married, she had always felt that she was competing with a ghost. She had never been so acutely aware of that fact as she did that day. So her husband was willing to put everything on the line, their marriage and their future in order to avenge his first wife and child.

As she soaked in the hot bath she had drawn for herself, Lisbon wished for once that tears would come more easily. She wished she could cry out this pain that was wrenching through her heart, wash away the words he had said that threatened her marriage. For the first time in eight months Lisbon considered filing for divorce. She doubted he would change his mind, which would leave her in one position: choosing between her duty as an officer of the law or her husband. She didn't want to make that choice. Unlike what she had told him in her office, she didn't know if she would be brave enough to arrest him, to seal the death sentence on her future with him. At the same time, would she be able to live with herself, with him?

She sighed. Divorce was not an option. Even if they did divorce, she wouldn't ask Minelli to transfer Jane to another unit, consequently taking him away from the Red John case. She couldn't do that to him. So she would still be facing the same conundrum, except it would be a parcel less personal. Who would she be kidding anyway? Divorcing him wouldn't make her stop loving him. She did love him, now more than ever.

There was only one thing for her to do: make sure that Jane would never be alone in a room with Red John. She'd do everything to stop Jane from killing him.

* * *

Later that night, Lisbon was physically and emotionally exhausted. She'd had to go back to work because Rigsby and Cho had arrested Tommy. The team left a little after midnight and she had to stay until almost 1 o'clock to fill out the paperwork for the murder charges. She was grateful that it was Friday and Jane could easily drive her home and they would get his car in the morning. She was too tired to drive.

Now that the case was over, Jane was a little fidgety. He was aware that Lisbon could ask him for a divorce at any time. He smiled at her. "Are you okay?" he asked her as nonchalantly as he could.

Lisbon glared at him from the passenger seat. "No, I'm not. I was going to go to bed early. I'd just had a long, warm, relaxing bath and because of you I had to go back to work at 10 o'clock at night."

"Because we caught the killer," Jane pointed out.

Lisbon groaned. "You almost died. Again."

"Technically, that's not my fault. Rigsby and Cho were supposed to be outside watching Machado."

"This is it, isn't it?" she asked him angrily. "This is as good as you and me is going to get? You, running off to God knows where and me, waiting either at home or at the office to get you off the hook. So glad I waited 36 years for this."

"35," Jane corrected her.

"What?"

"You're 36 years old now, but you were 35 years old when we got married."

"Same difference," Lisbon retorted.

Jane realized that there was only one way to know what was going to happen between them: ask. "So should I start packing my stuff?"

Lisbon was tempted to pretend not to know what he was talking about, but he would figure it out in half a second, so there was no point. "Promise not to shut me out too much?"

He reached across the car and took her hand in his. "Promise," he smiled. A genuine smile this time. Not one of those fake smiles he adorned half the day.

"I'm still going to arrest you," she told him.

"I know."

Still holding onto his hand, she laid her head against the window and closed her eyes. He could carry her inside if she fell asleep. He owed her that much.

* * *

The next day, Lisbon and Jane stood on the Garcias' front porch.

"So?" Lisbon asked him.

"So."

"Seems like this whole thing has changed your mind about vengeance," she said, half-hopeful.

"Huh?"

"Revenge is for fools and mad men," she quoted the words he had said a minute earlier to Maddy Garcia.

"Yeah, it's rather good, I thought. Total nonsense, but quite good nonetheless." Lisbon looked at him, speechless, as he suggested, "Shall we?"

Lisbon nodded, sadly. It had been a long shot, but she couldn't have helped being hopeful that he had changed his mind. They jumped off the stairs and ran to the car. Jane childishly let his tongue out to taste the rain while he waited for Lisbon to unlock his door. The rain had exhilarated Jane and as soon as he was in the car he grabbed Lisbon as she was starting the car and gave her a languorous kiss. She laughed at his exuberance. Jane really did make her happy.

She would stop him. He would never kill Red John and she'd never have to make a choice.

~o~

**Author's Notes:** Sorry for the really long wait for this update. I'll post the next one early next week to make up for it. Sara, I have taken what you said into account. Thank you so much everyone for the reviews. They make me so happy and basically grin all day. They also motivate me to write more and faster. I've got some 4,000 word chapters coming up, and I'm not sure I would have had the tenacity to write those if it weren't for all of you. So, thank you very, very much. I'm glad you're all still enjoying this. It's quite a difficult series to write, twisting the episodes and trying to keep everyone in-character. I don't always do great, but I'm doing my best. I'm glad you guys like it. Also, thanks to fading_ripples at Livejournal who has checked this many times.

Cat x


	10. 10 Cross to Bear

**10. Cross to Bear**

~o~

"CBI, Rigsby. Yeah," Rigsby answered his phone and then said to Jane as he walked past him, "Jane, phone for you." Jane was about to pick up the phone when Rigsby said, "Someone called Sophie Miller", which made Jane hesitate.

After what had happened between him and Lisbon two weeks ago, Jane wasn't keen on bringing someone like Sophie Miller back in his life. Things were just starting to be good again between him and his wife. He didn't think he should jeopardize all that. "Tell her I'm not here," he told Rigsby.

"Okay." Rigsby looked confused, but still followed Jane's instruction. "I'm sorry, ma'am," he said on the phone, "he's not available right now..."

"No, no, no, wait, wait," Jane called out to Rigsby. He couldn't ignore Sophie Miller.

"I'll, uh, I'll put you through," Rigsby said to the woman on the phone.

"Dr. Miller?" Jane answered. "Yeah, this is Patrick."

Cho turned around to look at Rigsby who shrugged, just as confused as his partner. They watched Jane walk to Lisbon's office after he hung up the phone.

Jane knocked on the doorframe as he entered the office. "Hey."

She looked up. "Hey."

"Uh, if someone is murdered on the campus of a state university, it's ours, isn't it?"

"Can be, if we muscle out the locals," Lisbon answered. "Why'd you ask?"

"Need a favor."

"What is it?"

"Someone I know. She's been arrested for murder, but she didn't do it. Can you consider taking the case?"

"Who?" Lisbon asked, curious.

"Dr. Sophie Miller at Leyland University."

"How do you know her?"

"Please don't ask," he said with pleading eyes.

Lisbon sighed, unhappy with the secrecy, but was subdued by his desperation. "Fine. Let's go."

Two hours later, the two of them were standing outside an interrogation room, watching a detective question Dr. Sophie Miller.

"What if we take this case and it turns out she's guilty?" Lisbon asked Jane.

"She didn't do it," he said confidently.

"How do you know?"

"Because she told me she didn't. She wouldn't lie to me."

"Why not?"

"Because she wouldn't," he said stubbornly.

"Suppose she did," Lisbon argued. This conversation was getting nowhere. Who was this woman? How come her husband was so certain of her innocence? She couldn't understand why Jane was keeping her in the dark.

"Well, if she is guilty, then we need to catch her and punish her. But she's not."

"Jane, I know I said I wouldn't ask, but I'm asking. Who is this woman? What's the connection?"

"You don't wanna know," he answered cryptically.

Lisbon let it go for now. Later on, when the case would be over, she would ask again. Obviously, this was not the right time to dig in Jane's past.

* * *

"What are you nuts?" Minelli asked Lisbon as soon as Chancellor Stern had left. "An animal rights case? You know what a nightmare they are?"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," she said, avoiding his eyes. "I didn't realize it was an animal rights case until too late."

"And that putz Stern is gonna be a pain in the ass," Minelli added, compelling her to look at him. She could still see the anger and disappointment in his eyes. She was definitely still in the dog house. "You better close this crap quick, Lisbon," he said before walking away.

She sighed, uncomfortable, as Cho and Rigsby watched her silently. If they only knew the whole truth. She walked back to her office and grabbed the files that she had been working on that morning. She couldn't believe how malleable she was sometimes. Here she was, digging herself deeper in Minelli's resentment, for a mysterious woman from Jane's past. And how does her ungrateful husband thank her? By keeping her as much in the dark as possible. She walked to her cabinet with the files in hand. Jane walked in as she was checking the last file before putting it away.

"Hey, thanks for not telling him I made you take the case," Jane told her. "Lisbon? Hello?" he said, trying to get her attention.

She put the file down and looked at him. "Tell me the truth," she told him, clearly irritated.

"Truth? Darth Vader? Luke's father," he answered before he turned to walk away.

Lisbon closed the cabinet drawer angrily. "Seriously, I've stuck my stupid neck out for you for the umpteenth time. I think I deserve the truth." She wanted to remind him of the promise he had made to her two weeks earlier, but that kind of talk was dangerous in the office. She couldn't risk anyone wondering. Besides, she was positive that he hadn't forgotten. Jane closed the door as Lisbon asked, "Why is Sophie Miller so important to you?"

"She was my doctor."

"She's a psychiatrist."

"Yes," Jane confirmed. "She was my psychiatrist."

"But you hate psychiatrists," Lisbon stated, confused. "So you always say."

"She was a good psychiatrist."

"She must have been, if she managed to keep you in the room."

"It was a locked room."

"Oh." She couldn't find anything more eloquent to say as realization dawned on her.

"Yeah, I went through a rough patch, a little time in a hospital. Sophie helped me through that time."

For the first time in a while, Lisbon felt great sorrow for her husband. There had been moments in the last year when she'd wanted to have been there for him before they met; to have given him support, friendship, love. She hadn't felt like that in a long time. Now, when she was feeling this way again, all she could say was: "It's not on your record." She was never good with words. That was Jane's forte.

"No. Believe me, I... It's not easy to do." He cast his eyes downwards, unable to look at her. It reminded Lisbon of the way she had been around Minelli lately. She was pained that Jane was acting the same way with her. She had to change things. Their marriage was supposed to be a source of happiness, comfort, and rest from the ugliness of the world. He took a step forward, closing the gap between them, and finally looked straight at her. "I know there's nothing shameful about having a breakdown," he said to her, "but I gotta confess, I am ashamed of it."

Lisbon remained silent for a second; trying to convey all the love and support she had for him in her eyes. "Thank you for being honest with me," she told him sincerely, her voice slightly cracking, betraying the emotions she felt.

"Sorry I kept it from you."

Tears threatened to well up in her eyes. She couldn't let that happen. Not even unshed tears. They kept staring at each other until Van Pelt knocked and opened the door. Lisbon only broke the stare when she heard Van Pelt's hesitating voice. "Shall I come back later?" she asked her.

"No," Lisbon said. She had to get out of here before she betrayed her anguish. Still, as she walked out of her office, she looked at her husband, making sure he was all right. She thought that a few minutes alone in her office would be good for him.

* * *

"Forget about the Animal Equality League," Jane said as he and Lisbon walked out of the Stutzer Institute building. "We should firebomb the place. The guy's gonna put us out of a job."

"I can't see it. Human beings are more than just electrical appliances," Lisbon argued.

"Patrick," a voice came from a few feet away.

"Dr. Miller," Jane said softly, pleased to see the woman. "Sophie," he greeted her when she had reached them.

Sophie barely glanced at Lisbon before concentrating her attention on Jane, who was smiling at her. Lisbon looked up and down at the woman standing in front of them. So this was the woman whom Jane was slightly gaga over. She was also the woman who had saved her husband, she reminded herself. Finally, Jane remembered his wife standing next to him.

"Ah, this is Agent Lisbon," he turned to her and she looked at him, unhappy. Still, she remained polite and forced a smile as she shook Dr. Miller's hand.

"Hello," Dr. Miller said to her before looking back at Jane. They were both staring at each other, oblivious to the rest of the world. Lisbon couldn't feel more like an outsider.

"I'm gonna wait in the car," Lisbon told him.

"All right," Jane agreed and focused his attention back to Dr. Miller.

"Thanks for getting me out," she said to him.

"Oh, it wasn't me," he explained. "It was the Animal Equality League that sprung you."

"It's the thought that counts," she said as they smiled at each other. "How have you been doing?"

"Good. Very good. You?"

"I've had my issues."

Jane nodded knowingly. "Ah, well, I... I don't know why that should surprise me. I suppose most patients assume their doctors have no problems themselves."

"Well, who'd consult a sick doctor?" She chuckled. "It's one of the reasons I left clinical practice and went into pure research."

"What are they exactly, your issues?" Jane asked. "I mean what's the story between you and Alex Nelson? Assault? Restraining orders?" Sophie Miller and Alex Nelson's relationship made his marriage with Lisbon appear to be textbook normal.

"What can I say; I'm just drawn to controlling, but damaged and emotionally unavailable men."

Jane looked at her, smiling a little sadly. That was the kind of relationship that plagued his future before he met Lisbon. She completely turned his life around in that area. "You and Alex made a truce?" He asked Sophie.

"Yeah," she confirmed.

"But you were arguing just before he died?"

She took a deep breath. "About work. Is this an interrogation?" She asked, annoyed.

"No, no, I'm sorry," he dismissed her question, chuckling. "I was just wondering about the logic of it all."

"You want logic?" she asked him with a slight hint of bitterness in her voice.

"You saved my life. I owe you. I would do anything to repay that debt," he said sincerely. "You know that, right?" She nodded and he continued, "But you're innocent. So why do you need my help? Why am I here?"

"Maybe I just wanted to see you again." They looked at each other a moment before she said, "Now I have. Goodbye Patrick." She lightly squeezed his hand as she walked away. Jane thought back to the day he met Sophie Miller, how broken he was. He had never thought that day would change his life forever. Getting a hold of himself, he walked back to the car, where Lisbon was waiting for him. She was sitting at the driver's seat, scribbling on a little book, frowning. He peeked at her writing and noticed that she was playing with his Sudoku.

"That's mine," he said leaning down to peer through the car window.

She shrugged. "I got bored and it was there." That was a peeved Lisbon who was sitting in the car. He could have paid a little more attention to her when he saw Sophie again. As he walked around the car, Lisbon put his Sudoku back in the glove compartment where he had originally put it. He got in the car, wondering how he would assuage his wife this time. He didn't need to, however, as she kissed him gently on the lips. She leaned back just enough to be able to look at him. "I've wanted to do this all day," she said, running a hand through his hair.

"Sorry about earlier, you know, with Sophie."

She shrugged. "It's okay. I can't say I was over the moon about it, but I understand." She sat back in her seat, put her seatbelt on, and started the car. "Want to get some takeout? Not in the mood to cook tonight."

* * *

A couple of hours later, when they laid naked in bed, tangled in the sheets, the takeout food forgotten on their kitchen table, Lisbon felt brave enough to ask the question that had been burning in her mind all day. She rolled over to lie on her side, facing him. Jane also turned on his side to face her. She ran a hand along his chest, sliding it up to his neck, face, and then hair. She rolled a curl around her index finger. His eyes had been on her hand, watching her caress him, lingering in the feeling of affection and acceptance his wife was showing him through the simplest touch. It was only when her fingers were playing on his face and then his hair that he shifted his gaze to her soft green eyes. She smiled softly at him, took a deep breath and asked:

"Can you tell me about it, the hospital?"

He tensed immediately, his eyes hardening. He rolled over to lie on his back and stare at the ceiling. She waited a few minutes for him to speak, but he remained silent. She was annoyed, believing she had misread their intimacy. How could she have been married ten months and still not know how close and open her relationship with her husband was? She had never been married before, but it didn't seem right. Just when she was thinking about getting up and leaving him alone, Jane spoke:

"There isn't much to tell."

"I don't mind that there isn't much. I just want to know, to have an idea of what it was like for you," she said, hopeful.

"My memories of that time are fairly vague. I remember how I felt, or more accurately, how I didn't feel. I stopped caring, completely stopped." He was still lying on his back, staring at the ceiling as he spoke. He looked like he was talking to himself. She wondered if he was even aware that she was still there. "I wasn't much of a suicidal risk," he continued, "since I didn't even care enough to kill myself. Nothing that happened to me mattered. It didn't matter if someone yelled at me or talked nicely to me. It wouldn't have mattered if I got slapped or kissed, beaten up or made love to. My emotions had completely shut down and I didn't believe they would ever be turned back on." He paused for a long moment. She didn't say anything, tried not to breathe too loudly, not wanting to break this atmosphere of intimacy and confession around them.

When he finally spoke again, he had once again turned over to look at her. "Sophie made me care again. She saved my life. She made me feel. Not only did it ensure that I wouldn't let anything bad happen to me, but it gave me the ability to love again." He swept a hand in her hair, caressing her cheek with his thumb. "If it weren't for Sophie Miller, I wouldn't have you."

She scooted over to press her body against his, wrapping her arms around him. She buried her face in his neck, kissing it softly. She suddenly felt extremely grateful for Sophie Miller's presence in her husband's life.

* * *

Finally, the case had been solved and Jane had repaid a long overdue debt. Cho, Van Pelt, and Rigsby had just left to take Stern back to the CBI for the formal arrest. Jane and Lisbon waited for Sophie Miller in front of the Stutzer Institute building. Jane sat on the edge of a sidewalk, leaning back to take the sunshine in. Lisbon looked at her watch impatiently. How long did it take to change a shirt? Finally, the tall blonde appeared and Jane got up, smile on his face.

Sophie shook his hand as well as Agent Lisbon's. "Thank you so much for everything."

"No problem," Lisbon replied. She looked at her husband, who slightly nodded to her. "It was nice meeting you. Good luck with everything." Lisbon said to Sophie before asking Jane, "Do you want me to take your jacket?"

He handed it to her. "Thank you. I won't be long," he reassured her.

She smiled. "Take your time." She said goodbye to Sophie and walked away.

Jane watched her go and when she became a barely perceptible dot, he turned to Sophie. "There's a bench over there; let's sit."

She smiled and walked with him to the bench. "How long have you been married?" she asked him bluntly.

"How do you know about that?" he asked sheepishly.

"Your wedding ring is different than the one you were wearing five years ago."

He looked at his wedding ring and nodded. "Ten months."

"Who's the lucky woman? What's she like?"

"You've met her. It's Agent Lisbon."

Sophie's eyes widened. "Agent Lisbon, really?" she said, surprised and then laughed lightly. "That explains her coldness towards me."

Jane cocked his head to the side. "You weren't that congenial with her either, as I recall."

Sophie laughed again. "She was considering me as a suspect for a murder I didn't commit," she explained. "Where's her wedding ring?"

"She doesn't have one. I gave her the cross she wears. It was my mother's." He paused before adding as an explanation, "We're trying to keep the marriage secret."

"Is she ashamed of you?"

Jane smiled. "Can you blame her?"

"No." Sophie smiled back at him, knowing full well he was joking. "Why then?"

"For her career. It would put her integrity in jeopardy. Her judgment, especially where I'm concerned, would be discredited. Besides, the secrecy also ensures our professionalism at work."

"You just quoted your wife. That's her opinion, not yours," Sophie guessed to which Jane laughed.

"Quite correct, Dr. Miller.

"What's your opinion then?" she asked him.

"I've never been professional so it makes little difference to me. Teresa is also unaware of how good she is at her job. She's the best the CBI has had in years," he said with pride. "Our marriage wouldn't have much of an impact on her career, I'm sure. She's too good for that. But," he added with a shrug, "the secrecy puts her mind at ease, so I'm fine with it."

"So Patrick Jane has re-married," Sophie mused.

"Yes," he confirmed. "Thanks to you. She's very grateful to you, by the way."

"Agent Lisbon?"

Jane nodded. "You sound surprised."

"She has an odd way of showing it."

"She is showing it right now by patiently waiting in the car while you and I talk. And if you knew Teresa Lisbon better, you would know that patience is not her strong point. She's also not too keen on sharing her husband's attention."

"Possessive?"

Jane shrugged. "Hm, not really. She just drew the short straw in the husband department in so many other areas that having her husband's undivided attention is the least she can have."

"Well, I can't judge," Sophie stated. "I'm not exactly an expert in stable marriages."

"In the future, I hope that your love life is a little more peaceful. But, if it's not, and an ex-lover turns up dead again, do me a favor? Don't call me." They smiled at each other as he added, "I think we're pretty much even."

"Paid in full," she agreed.

"Great. What are you gonna do now?"

"I'm ruined as a scientist, so I'll probably go back to helping people one by one."

"I think that's a great idea," he said enthusiastically. "You're very good at that."

"Thanks."

They stared at each other, smiling until Jane leaned in and gently kissed her on the cheek. Sophie swallowed hard as he stared back at her. It was strange to see this woman again. She had made him feel once more, and sitting here next to her made him more aware than ever of that fact. But there was another woman waiting for him not too far away. She was his future while the blonde next to him was his past.

"Bye Sophie," he told her as he got up. "Be well." Sophie watched him as he walked to the SUV parked by the side of the road.

Lisbon turned to look at Jane as he approached the car. "Aw, Jane kissed a girl," she teased.

"Well, yes. Yeah. On the cheek," he clarified.

"Still counts," she said in a teasing tone, smiling up at him.

His tone was, however, dead serious. "Counts as what?"

"Nothing. Just saying."

He looked at her. He knew she hadn't meant it like that, but the implication that it could have been a form of cheating was not lost on him. He kept glancing at her as he walked around the car to get in. He didn't like the idea that he could cheat on her. He wouldn't. He wouldn't do that to her. She realized his somber mood by the time he was in the car and put his seatbelt on.

"You wanna drive?" she offered.

"That's a very sweet offer," he said. "Do I really seem that sad?"

"What? I was just asking if you wanted to drive," Lisbon defended herself.

"You don't like it when I drive. You despise it."

"You drive way too fast," she pointed out.

"I drive just fast enough," he argued. "You hate not being the one in control, and yet you're willing to overcome your irrational fears to cheer me up." He smiled at her. "That's a beautiful thing, Lisbon. Thank you. I'd love to drive."

"Never mind," she said as she started the car and drove away.

After a minute or two, he laid his hand on her thigh, gently caressing it with his thumb. She didn't say anything, but the ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. He watched as she began to relax under his small touch.

"I love you," he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

She didn't say anything, but her lips formed a beautiful smile.

~o~

**Author's Notes:**

1. My usual thanks: you guys are amazing. The unwavering support is really fantastic. I've been getting a bit de-motivated lately – not by the writing of the fic itself or my interest in it – but the sort of slump I think it's beginning to have. However, you guys have been really encouraging and it really, truly helps. Thanks to Sara, who reviewed anonymously and to whom I couldn't reply personally, for her nice review.

2. My beta hadn't noticed, but some of you probably have: Lisbon's cross necklace isn't the same in season 2 as in season 1. This will be, hopefully, the only thing that will not follow the series to the letter. I blame the props department who probably lost the cross during the summer hiatus. It's my personal belief that Lisbon was never meant to wear a different cross in season 2.

3. California (and most likely all U.S. states) does not require wedding bands for marriage. Wedding rings are only a tradition. I checked ;)

4. Finally, the team will know eventually. I just won't tell you how or when. You shall see :)


	11. 11 Vaya con Dios

_This little chapter is dedicated to Tromana. You've had a tough weekend and I'm posting this so you'll have something nice to wake up to. Big hug from the South!_

**~o~**

**11. Vaya con Dios**

**~o~**

Jane was standing on the opposite side of her desk. For the last minute or so, they had been looking at each other, speaking without words.

"I'm going," Jane finally said.

Lisbon sighed. "It's a trap."

"Probably." He shrugged. "I still have to go."

She nodded and sat down. She understood that he couldn't let it go. If there was a small chance to get a lead on Red John, Jane would take it. His determination was hardly surprising to her. She just hoped the outcome, whatever it would be, wouldn't hurt him too much. "Come see me when you get back," she told him. He left her office and she tried to concentrate on her work. She knew it would be difficult as her thoughts would inevitably drift to her husband.

It merely took two hours for Jane to be back in her office.

"I still think it's a trap," Lisbon told him once he had told her about his meeting with Jared Renfrew.

"I can't let it go. I have to do it. I'm going to talk to Minelli," he said as he got up.

She followed him wordlessly. She was pretty sure this wouldn't fly with Minelli, but at least she would be there to give Jane the support he needed. As soon as Jane explained the whole situation to Minelli, the older man said:

"No. I said no. And I mean no." Minelli sat down in his chair. "It's not that I don't want to help you. I want to help you. It's just, it's not physically possible. Jared Renfrew was tried and convicted. It's a closed case. I have no authority to reopen it without cause."

"There is cause," Jane said seriously.

"For you there's cause," Minelli pointed out. "Not for the State of California. We can't touch it."

"Ah, but we could touch it."

"Closed case," Minelli declared. "Nothing to be done. The Justice Department doesn't go about undoing its own work."

The two men stared at each other for a few moments. Lisbon, who had been silently sitting on the couch, watched the two men's staring match.

"I understand," Jane said to Minelli. "No problem. If we can't touch it, we can't touch it." He knew Minelli wouldn't budge. It was his job to be firm on this matter and pushing Minelli on this would definitely not be the best strategy. Even though he kept reassuring Lisbon that Minelli would come around about their marriage, Jane was aware that it was still a very sore point for Minelli. He didn't want to make things worse by pushing Minelli to his limits on the Renfrew case. He would just have to investigate behind Minelli's back.

"I'm sorry," Minelli said sincerely.

"No." Jane got up and so did Lisbon. "The law is the law. My desire for revenge doesn't outweigh the rules. I have to accept that." Jane appreciated Minelli's apology, but it wouldn't stop him from doing what he had to do. He just hoped it wouldn't make Minelli's opinion on their marriage even worse.

"I'm glad you understand," Minelli said.

"Thanks for your time." Jane looked at Lisbon as he left. She watched him go, knowing full well her husband's intentions, and took a step closer to Minelli when Jane was gone. She was aware she wasn't back in Minelli's good graces, so she avoided his eyes as he asked her:"He's lying through his teeth, isn't he?"

"Yes," she answered, eyes on the floor, half-embarrassed. She knew this was exactly the kind of behavior that made Minelli disapprove of her marriage. She glanced up and saw the now familiar disappointment in her boss's eyes.

"Watch him," he ordered her.

She nodded, walked out of the office and quickly ran after Jane. "Jane, I know better than to try to stop you from doing what you think you have to do."

"No, no," he denied. "I'm fine about it. I can see Minelli's point," he said as he put his jacket on. "I can't be chasing every nut bag with a good story, can I?"

"Yeah, sure, you're fine with it," she said sarcastically. Did he really think he was fooling her? They had been married for almost ten months. She might not be as perceptive as her husband, but she knew him and could tell when he was lying. "Just do me the favor of listening to me for a minute, so I can say 'I told you so' later."

"Sure," he smiled his 'my wife amuses me' smile, but she ignored it as she proceeded to say what she had to say.

"Jared Renfrew was found hugging the corpse of Undine Kopecki in a room locked from the inside, holding a bloody butcher knife in his hand. His semen was inside of her. He'd been stalking her for weeks. He's got a history of violence going back 15 years."

"What's your point?" he interrupted her.

"He's guilty. You're being conned."

"Possible," he agreed as he began to walk away. She followed him as he continued talking, "But I don't think so. But I gotta find out, one way or the other."

"Even if he's telling the truth about the murder, he could still be lying about Red John," she desperately argued. She knew it was pointless, but she had to make him realize the foolishness of his endeavor.

"Also possible," Jane conceded. "I gotta take the chance. What else can I do?"

She stood in front of him to force him to stop walking and pay attention to her. "Minelli wants me to keep watch on you," she said, changing tactics. If he didn't listen to reason, she could at least minimize the damage.

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm not gonna follow you around. Let's compromise. When you get into trouble, call me first, so I can minimize the damage."

"Deal." He smiled at her, happy to have a semblance of support from his wife. He wasn't surprised that she wasn't happy about the situation, but he appreciated her respect for his determination.

"And don't use your CBI card. The bureau finds out you used it without authorization, you're done."

"I hear you," he said before walking away. Lisbon watched him, worried. She had a really bad feeling about this.

* * *

"JANE!" Minelli yelled as soon as Jane walked into the bullpen. Jane had obviously gotten in trouble. Lisbon followed Jane into Minelli's office.

"Gardner Renfrew is a player in this town. You can't go to his house and screw around with him," Minelli told Jane angrily.

That didn't sound good at all to Lisbon. Jane had definitely gotten into a lot of trouble.

"Why not? It's a free country. I didn't use my ID. I didn't even mention the CBI," he defended himself. Sometimes Jane was really tired of politics. All lies and secrets. Then people went down on him because he was upfront and honest.

"You gave your real name."

"It's my name."

"Well, you should have lied as you so often do," Minelli said bitterly. "Because now I have to give you an official reprimand." Jane looked at Lisbon then. He felt bad for the possibility that this would reflect badly on her, not just in Minelli's eyes, but in the bureau in general. "And order you in the strongest possible terms to leave the Renfrew family alone and drop the matter," Minelli continued.

"Sorry, can't do that," Jane replied without skipping a beat. He wasn't going to pretend anymore. This was too important. Hopefully, Minelli wouldn't take the anger he felt for Jane out on Lisbon.

"You have to. This is straight from the A.G.'s office."

"Jared Renfrew didn't kill Undine Kopecki," Jane said, sure of himself.

"Do you have evidence of that?" Lisbon asked him.

"Not yet. I have pieces that I'm piecing together." He looked back at Minelli. "He's innocent."

"Wake up, Dorothy; you're not in Kansas anymore. There are innocent men in jail. It happens," Minelli said angrily as he sat down at his desk. "Is he one of them? I don't know. I doubt it. In any case, we can't reopen his case."

Jane leaned forward, and said, tongue-in-cheek, "If I'm Dorothy, then who are you?" Maybe not the best idea to goad Minelli at this point, but he couldn't resist. If the Renfrew weren't big shots, no one would care about him re-opening this case. Shouldn't that make it obvious that there was something fishy going on with this family?

Minelli closed his eyes, frustrated. "It doesn't matter who I am. We will find other ways of making Renfrew talk to you. There's a lot that can be done to make a prisoner's life easier if he cooperates."

"It's not gonna work. He's innocent."

"Okay, here it is: if you pursue this any further, I'm gonna have to throw you out of the CBI. We can't take the liability. I very much do not want to have to do that."

Lisbon looked at Jane and recognized the expression on his face. He was considering this. Her heart stopped as Jane got up from the couch. "I know you don't," he said to Minelli. "So, uh, I'll spare you the trouble. I quit." He put his CBI card on Minelli's desk.

"Don't do that," Lisbon pleaded. She, more than anyone, knew how much his work at the CBI meant to him. He would never admit it, but she knew it gave meaning to his life.

"No. It's okay. It's best this way." He took a few steps, closing the gap that was separating them. With him gone from the CBI, she wouldn't have to worry that the discovery of their marriage would hinder her career. "You are the good witch, Glinda," he said to her. "Obviously," he added, glancing at Minelli. Jane had been very quiet and discreet about Minelli's disapproval of his marriage. He had respected his over-protectiveness of Lisbon. There was a limit to his diplomacy. He looked back at his wife, smiling warmly. He gently touched her arm as he said, "Thank you. I learned a lot," before walking out of the office.

The anguish she felt was evident in her eyes and Minelli's annoyance was also perceptible. "Tell me again why you married him?"

"Our marriage doesn't erase what happened to his first wife and child," she explained. As much as she wanted to patch things up with Minelli, she would defend her husband against anyone. She had always defended her team no matter what they did or said. Minelli shouldn't be surprised that she did the same for her husband.

"You're going to play the role of the supportive wife, ignoring the fact that he's abandoning you?"

"It's not role-playing, and he's not abandoning me," she said before leaving the office. She wondered if things with her boss would ever be okay again. He seemed determined to disapprove of her marriage and be disappointed in her. When she left his office and went into hers, Rigsby, Cho and Van Pelt were all waiting for her. "Don't bother, I know," she said to them. "I feel the same way. Nothing to be done."

"So now when he really needs our help, we're letting him down," Rigsby accused her.

"I want to help him just as much as you guys do," she said to Rigsby, irritated. "Our orders state that we must stay away from this case."

She rarely felt this way, but this was one of the times she felt like screaming about her marriage on rooftops. She hated that Rigsby was implying she wasn't supportive enough. It didn't seem fair to her that everyone was judging her according to how she reacted to Jane's behavior. Basically, no matter what she did or said, she was screwed. On the one hand, her team thought she wasn't supportive enough and on the other hand, her boss thought she was too supportive. In reality, all that really mattered to her was what her husband thought, but he remained stoic on the subject and gave her silent support and understanding no matter what her decision was.

"I don't care what orders say. It's not right," Van Pelt said.

"We closed cases before he came. We'll close cases after he's gone."

"Yes, just not as many," Cho chimed in.

"Cases are not the point," Rigsby argued. "It's not that we need him. He needs us."

"Yeah, he needs us on a fool's errand," Lisbon pointed out. "Renfrew's a con man. He doesn't know anything about Red John."

"Suppose we found a connection," Van Pelt said, "between Renfrew and Red John."

"It would..." Lisbon started, and then interrupted herself. "Wait. What's in the file? Let me guess. A connection between Renfrew and Red John?"

Van Pelt smiled as she handed the file to her boss. "Seven years ago, Renfrew was serving time on a narcotics conviction. He shared a cell in Lompoc with a man with the name of Orval Tanner. Tanner claimed in his 1998 trial for murder that he had only been an accomplice, that the real killer was a man by the name Red John. Nobody believed him."

"'98? That's the beginning of Red John's career? Where's Tanner now?" Lisbon asked

"He died of heart disease in a prison hospital."

"Of course. Our luck," Lisbon said sarcastically.

"It's a connection," Van Pelt pointed out, hoping to convince her boss.

"Slim. Likely nobody believed him for a reason." She knew more than anyone how charming her husband was and how easily anyone can be taken by his enthusiasm. She didn't want her team to go on a wild goose chase for Jane's sake.

"But it's a connection," Rigsby repeated Van Pelt's words.

Lisbon looked at her team. If they were willing to put things on the line for Jane, shame on her for not doing the same. She knew which direction to take now. She immediately felt better. She knew she was making the right decision. "Okay. Check out Tanner's background. Find the autopsy reports. See if there's any credibility to his story. I mean, obviously we can't do that. But that's what I would tell you to do if we weren't ordered to stay away from this case." They all nodded, smiling.

Half an hour later, when she walked into the bullpen, Lisbon noticed Minelli talking to her team. She knew right away that he had caught them.

"Hey, Boss," she said with forced insouciance.

He wasn't fooled. "I gave this unit a direct written order and they have flagrantly disobeyed that order. Did they do that with your knowledge?" He was angry.

"I ordered them to do it," she explained. "I told them you countermanded your earlier order. They had no knowledge whatsoever that they were doing anything irregular."

Minelli smiled at her. "Nice try, Mother Teresa. They already gave themselves up."

"We never said a wo..." Rigsby exclaimed before he realized he had walked into a trap and Lisbon gave him a death glare.

"I stand by my story," Lisbon stated. "They didn't know they were out of line."

Cho got up and stated, "Sir, the opposite is true. We forced Agent Lisbon to let us do this."

"Very touching," Minelli said sarcastically. "My ex-wife would love this scene in a movie." She would have, Minelli thought. A career woman laying everything on the line for her husband, while her subordinates did the same for her. "I'm giving you all formal notice. Any further infractions will result in immediate suspension."

"Sir, you might as well suspend me now. Because there will be further infractions." She looked at him square in the eye for the first time in weeks. "Jane needs our help and he's gonna get it." She had made her choice. She was standing by her husband no matter what. "I'm not gonna lay off because some fat cat's putting on the pressure."

"Me too," Rigsby and Cho said at the same time.

"And me," Van Pelt said as well.

"Moving, eloquent, two thumbs up." He looked at all of them. "You shall have your wish. You're all suspended. Starting right now, for gross insubordination," he said angrily before walking back to his office.

Lisbon looked at her team. Putting her career on the line for her husband was one thing, but having her entire team's careers in jeopardy was another. "I'm sorry," she told them as she walked toward Minelli's office. Once inside, she stood awkwardly. It was one thing to confront him in front of her team, but it was another to be in his office, the two of them alone. She wanted to stand by Jane, but she didn't want to lose her job in the process.

"Oh, Lisbon. Hi," Minelli said when he turned around and saw her. "Still here?"

"Um, that was more of a rhetorical stand we were taking back there," she explained.

"You take it back then?"

"No," she answered taking a few steps toward him. She finally decided to talk to him about her marriage. She understood that he was disappointed, but Minelli had no right to punish her for it. If they could just talk about it, maybe she could make him understand why she married Jane. "But I wanted to talk to you..."

"This," he interrupted her. "The suspension paperwork right here."

"Look..."

"I have to go and visit my sister in Hawaii for a week," he interrupted her. "She's sick. Meanwhile this paperwork is gonna sit on my desk. For a week. Is that clear?"

She looked at him, surprised. Pleasantly surprised.

"One week," he emphasized.

"Yes, sir." She smiled. "Thank you."

"Yes," he agreed. "Be very grateful." He closed the gap between them. "Do not contact me. I do not want to know anything. And please, do not dig the hole that you are standing in any deeper than you have already dug it."

"No, Sir."

"That hole is the grave of your very promising career." She knew he wasn't just talking about the Renfrew case. Lisbon suddenly felt like a ton of bricks had just been lifted off her shoulders. She was finally out of the dog house.

"You should have a flashlight underneath your chin just to complete the effect," she joked.

"I'm not kidding," he said to her seriously.

"I know." She sobered up and walked out. Minelli watched her; proud that this woman, whom he saw as a daughter, stood up for what she believed in and the people she loved.

* * *

Jane was sitting on the steps of a building, remembering the fateful night he found his wife and daughter murdered. The sound of his phone ringing brought him back to reality. He answered when he saw that it was Lisbon. "Hey, Lisbon."

"You okay?" she asked, concerned. She had no idea what was currently going through her husband's head.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just out investigating stuff."

"Want to come in and investigate with us?"

He was taken aback by her question. He had thought he was alone in this. "Uh... sure."

"You mind bringing some pizza?" she asked him.

"Yeah, uh, pepperoni or plain?"

"Both. I think Rigsby's already getting hungry."

"Okay."

"Okay, I'll see you soon."

"Oh, hey, Lisbon?" he stopped her before she hung up. "Thank you." He was never going to resent her, whatever she decided to do, but having her support on this meant the world to him.

"You would do the same for me," she simply answered. In reality, she felt a little ashamed for not standing up for him sooner. She was still insecure about his obsession with Red John. Deep down, she knew that if Jane had to choose between her and catching Red John, he wouldn't choose her. It scared her and hurt her more than anything.

"I love you," he said softly, barely above a whisper.

"I'm sorry for not being more supportive earlier," she apologized. "I worry. I'm afraid you'll get hurt."

Jane smiled. He always liked it when she shared her feelings. "I understand, but nothing really bad can happen as long as I've got you."

* * *

Jane thought the expressions 'putting all your eggs in one basket' was quite fitting here. The possibility of catching Red John, his career, his team's career and his wife's career at the CBI were all in jeopardy. "Patience," he said over and over. He didn't know if he was trying to convince the team or himself.

"If you say 'patience' one more time..." Rigsby threatened.

Jane's cell phone rang. He listened to the person on the other line and said, "I'll be right there."

"Who was it?" Lisbon asked after he hung up.

He smiled, happy that his plan had worked. She smiled back, Jane's happiness contagious.

"Mrs. Renfrew."

"Gardner's wife?" she asked, surprised. She was the last person Lisbon would have imagined to be Undine Kopecki's killer.

"No, the other Mrs. Renfrew. I have to go to the Renfrew residence."

Lisbon immediately got up. "I'll drive you." She wanted to be a part of this. Over the last few days she had come to realize that what concerned Jane inevitably concerned her. She couldn't run from it. She had made herself involved the moment she said "I do."

* * *

Three days later, Lisbon left Minelli's office and gestured to Jane to follow her into her own office.

"It's going to take about 10 days to get Renfrew out and set a safe house and all that," she told Jane as soon as she closed the door. "You'll have to be patient."

Jane nodded. "I waited this long. What are 10 more days?" He sat on her couch. "Hey, how about we go away this weekend?"

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Go away? Why?"

"For fun." Jane grinned. "Normal married couples do that all the time."

The ghost of a smile appeared on her face. "Where would we go?"

Jane's smile widened as the prospect of going away pleased her. "Anywhere you want. Your pick."

"I like hiking," she suggested.

"A cabin in the woods, middle of nowhere, just the two of us, with lots of hiking trails?"

Her eyes shone with excitement and anticipation. "That would be amazing."

Friday evening, Jane drove Lisbon's car, as his Citroën would have a hard time in the woods, to an unknown place. Lisbon hadn't said much about the trip since Jane had suggested it. He planned the whole thing. All she had to do was pack. She didn't want to show how much this meant to her. She never went on vacation. The last time she did was her honeymoon and it had felt like a mandatory vacation, something expected. This impromptu trip was something she hadn't experienced in a long time.

After two hours, they got off the main road and followed a smaller road for a few miles. Finally, out of nowhere, a cabin appeared into view. It was small, but looked welcoming. Lisbon suppressed a smile, trying to restrain her excitement. This looked perfect. As soon as Jane parked the car, she leapt out and tried the door. It was locked.

"You have the key?" she asked Jane.

Jane produced a golden-colored key. "Right here."

"Well, open it!" she exclaimed, unable to contain her excitement anymore.

Jane wanted to tease her, to find a reason not to open the door, but she was so adorable, hair disheveled from the hours of driving and eyes tired from the long day they just had at work, but shining from the excitement of the weekend ahead. He didn't have the heart to make her wait any longer than she had to. As soon as he unlocked the door, she opened it, and searched for the light switch. He found it first and turned the lights on.

The cabin was impressive. It was very small. It basically had one big room. A big, comfy bed was in one corner with a fireplace opposite the bed. There was a kitchenette set on the other side of the room with an oven, a small fridge, and a sink. A table with two chairs was in front of the kitchenette. All your basic needs for a weekend away from civilization. What was impressive about the cabin was the decor. It was classy and comfy at the same time. It made you not want to leave the house for three days. Jane wondered how set Lisbon was on hiking.

Lisbon had remained quiet for several minutes as she took in her surroundings. After a while, Jane couldn't take the silence anymore and asked, "You like?" She turned to him and crossed the room to stand in front of him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

They unloaded the car two hours later.

* * *

On the day that Renfrew was being released from prison, Jane was under a fair amount of trepidation. Once Rigsby and Cho were ready, Jane went to see Lisbon one last time before going.

"We're ready to go get Renfrew," he told her. "Is the safe house all set up?"

"Yeah."

"Good," he answered as they looked at each other. This could be a new beginning or the end of their marriage. It all depended how the next 24 to 48 hours would pan out. "I guess I'll see you over there later," he added, smiling nervously at her.

"Jane, please be careful," she told him, unable to hide the worry she was feeling. "Remember, this is playing out just like Red John wants it to."

"This is playing out just like it has to," he reassured her. "He has no choice but to try and silence Renfrew. He has to show himself. We're getting close. I can feel it."

"You can feel it?" she asked, unconvinced. "Like a psychic thing?"

"No. I'm quietly confident that we will get a bite."

"You think you're playing him and he thinks he's playing you," she pointed out getting up from her chair. "One of you is wrong."

He smiled at her, betraying his eagerness and confidence, before leaving her office.

Five hours later, Cho, Rigsby, and Jane were back at the office, with Renfrew at large. Lisbon was explaining the situation to Minelli and how Renfrew had gotten away. Cho, who had been on the receiving end of Renfrew's hot coffee and let him get away, was fuming in a corner, angrily bouncing a ball against a table.

"Would you stop that?" Lisbon asked him, irritated. "It's not your fault." She wished her team didn't care so much. She loved them for caring, but they shouldn't. This wasn't personal to them the way it was to her husband, to her.

"Well, whose fault is it, then?" he asked, angrily. "It's mine. I have to accept that."

"Ah," Jane said as he walked into the bullpen, "actually, it's my fault." He lightly tapped Cho's arms in gratitude for his concern and looked at everyone in the room. "Okay, everyone? My fault."

"What's done is done," Lisbon said. "Focus on now. We need to get to Renfrew before Red John does. Where is he now? Who are his friends? What are his options?"

Jane's cell phone rang as she spoke. He crossed the room to pick it up. He fumbled with his vest, looking for it. "Hello," he answered once he had found it.

"Mr. Jane," Renfrew said at the other end of the line. "I just wanted to call and apologize for letting you down."

"Hello, Jared."

"It was dishonorable, I know," Jared continued. "But crossing Red John just seems too dangerous."

"You've already crossed him. You need our protection," Jane told him. The stupid man. If only Renfrew was even slightly aware of how deep in trouble he was. Jane knew it was a long shot, but he had to try to convince Renfrew to come back.

"I haven't given you a thing," Jared pointed out.

"How is he to know that?"

"Oh, he'll know," Jared answered confidently. "He'll know. Like I said, I have friends and they'll put in a good word for me."

"Friends? What friends? Who?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Jared asked cockily.

"Jared, listen to me. You can't trust them. They're not your friends," he said, desperately trying to get through to the man. It was probably too late. By the time they found Jared, Red John would probably have gotten to him first.

"Vaya con Dios, amigo," Renfrew told him.

"Jared," Jane said in vain. Jared had already hung up. "Damned fool," he said turning back to the team. "Red John probably already has his location."

"Did you trace the line?" Lisbon asked Van Pelt.

"Yes," the agent answered. "I'm tracking the call now."

Jane already had a good idea of Renfrew was. "He's in Tijuana, Mexico. In a motel room with a hooker."

"Because?" Minelli asked.

"He wouldn't call if he didn't think he was out of our reach. I could hear Latin music and sirens and horns. A whole neighborhood in the background, which suggests thin walls in a city. Hence, a Tijuana motel room."

"And the hooker?" Lisbon asked.

"He needs somebody's phone. He has been in prison a year. Hence, the hooker."

"The phone belongs to Juana Porfiria Braga. Calle Rojas 65, Tijuana, Mexico. Five arrests on prostitution charges. Let me get a location on the call."

"I'll go reach out to the Federal police in Tijuana. You boys come with me," Minelli said to Cho and Rigsby.

"Yes, sir," Cho said as he got up to follow Minelli.

As Cho and Rigsby walked away, Lisbon took a few steps forward toward Jane. She furtively glanced at his hand. She wanted to take it, squeeze it, give him support. He looked so dejected, and she wished she could cheer him up somehow.

"Go ahead, say it," Jane told her.

"Say what?"

"You told me. You warned me. You get the privilege of saying I told you so."

"It's all right," she smiled at him. "Not now. This isn't over yet. We're gonna find Renfrew and he's gonna tell us what he knows." Jane looked at her, once again grateful for her unwavering support.

"Got it," Van Pelt interrupted. "Motel Corona Del Norte." As Van Pelt spoke, Jane kept his eyes on his wife. A gentle smile appeared on her lips, barely noticeable. She didn't have to say the words; he knew what she was thinking, saying with her eyes. She loved him; she supported him; she would be there for him no matter what.

It was well past midnight when they arrived in Tijuana. The federal officer with them broke the door down and Rigsby and Lisbon walked into the motel room, guns drawn. Rigsby checked the bathroom and was greeted by the gruesome sight of Jared and the prostitute in the bathtub, murdered. As soon as he saw it, Rigsby ran back to call coroner's office. Lisbon slowly walked to the bathroom, putting her gun back in her hostler, Jane following close behind. The two victims were cut Red John style; a smiley red face was drawn over the toilet. She stood there for a few seconds, shocked by what she was seeing. Once she regained her senses, she walked back to the bed and let Jane look at the scene.

A few minutes later, Jane and Lisbon sat side by side at the edge of the bed as the bodies were taken from the bathroom.

"Right, you can say it now," Jane told her.

"I don't really feel like saying it," she replied. "Let me take a rain check on that."

"Sure."

"What do you think it means?" she asked him.

"It means Red John is far more powerful than I ever thought," Jane said, dejected. "He's been way ahead of me this whole time."

"I mean the writing on the wall."

"Oh," he said, realizing what she had asked. He shook his head as he looked at her. "I have no idea."

"It's a good clue though, isn't it?" she said encouragingly, lightly touching his thigh for a brief second, trying to keep some kind of connection between them. "Jared was trying to tell us something important."

"Maybe," Jane said, dejected. Everything had just come crashing down on him and it felt like nothing really mattered anymore.

"Next time," she said as she touched his arm affectionately, "we'll get him."

"Next time," he repeated, looking at her and trying to smile. As they stared at each other, the hooker's phone began to ring. Jane answered it. He could only hear shallow breathing. "Hello?" he asked and then he heard a laugh, a cold, horrible laugh.

~o~

**Author's Notes:**

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for all the amazing reviews! That's all I can say. The support is AMAZING. I love every single review. You're all awesome.


	12. 12 Sixteen Days

_For Chibi. You rock. Also hoping that it'll bring a smile on Tracie's face when she wakes up tomorrow morning._

~o~

**12. Sixteen Days**

~o~

To say that things were off in her marriage would be putting it lightly. Jane was completely withdrawn. He would come home really late and leave early. She hadn't really seen him outside of work. Thankfully, they maintained a good working relationship. In reality, if it wasn't for his almost complete absence at home, their relationship seemed pretty much the same. They easily talked about work together. They just never talked about anything personal. It was as if they didn't have a personal relationship. She knew why he was withdrawn; the Renfrew case had been heartbreaking for him. Nevertheless, she wished he would open up to her. She had, after all, been with him almost every step of the way. She felt it was only fair that he confided in her. Was he missing his wife (well, first wife) and felt unable to tell her? She just wished he would open up just a little. She would take anything. His stubborn silence was unsettling and began to grate on her nerves. What was the nature of their relationship if they couldn't share?

Even though Jane was purposely pulling away, he still liked to touch her. He randomly touched her (fingers running through her hair, hand on her thigh while she was driving, squeeze of her arm, loose arm around her waist) when they were alone in the car. It was reassuring to feel her. The heavily silent forty-five minute drive to Boonville wasn't as difficult with his hand on her thigh. The contact reassured him that even though he was pulling away, he wasn't so far gone that he wouldn't be able to come back. He just needed more time. Red John had been so close, and he had slipped through Jane's fingers. The loss of his wife and child were so raw and nightmares of not only their murders, but his second's wife's life being in danger also, plagued his nights. He knew Lisbon wanted him, needed him, to talk to her, but he just wasn't capable of it. He needed to let time pass, to let it mend old wounds.

Within seconds of parking on the main street of Boonville, Lisbon was out of the car, without even one glance in his direction. He watched her get out as he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out as well. She finally looked at him as they joined Rigsby and Van Pelt on the sidewalk. She glanced at him a couple of times while Van Pelt was giving them the basics of the case. Jane noticed the three kids across the street and told the agents he would wait outside while they went into the flower shop, owned by the parents of the missing teenager. Jane may have been mistaken, but he thought he heard a hint of happiness in Lisbon's voice when she told him that it was fine, as if she was happy to be rid of him.

When ten minutes later, they got out of the flower shop, Lisbon walked towards Jane. "Cho's gonna bring the Elkins home," she told him.

He gestured to her so she would walk with him a bit away from the others and she complied, albeit a little reluctantly. Once he stopped and looked at the sky, she stood next to him, looking in the same direction as he did. After a couple of seconds, she noticed how close she had been standing to him, probably out of habit, and took an almost imperceptible step back. Jane noted this and understood that she was annoyed with him.

"I've got a pretty good idea of where Cody Elkins' body is." He smiled a bit. At least he was useful at work.

"Sharing is good," she said and not just meaning the location of Cody's body.

The case distracted them. They both concentrated on it and when they were alone, all talk revolved around the case. Jane was glad for this excuse to talk to her. He felt that talking about personal matters was still too difficult for him. The case made sure that he didn't lose complete contact with his wife. He never wanted to be at a point where they would share a house without speaking to one another. They had to speak, even if it was only about work. He was also grateful for Cho's fear of the 'witch' Tamsin Dove. It gave an opportunity for Jane and Lisbon to share a private joke. He felt things beginning to heal as they easily fell back to their working relationship. After all, their romantic relationship started at work.

As for Lisbon, Cho's nervousness around the witch and the subsequent joking she and Jane had done at his expense put her in a better mood. She felt connected to her husband again, even if it was on a somewhat superficial level. She still kept her distance with him all day, but she gradually felt more at ease. She really wanted her husband back.

"Did you see the look on Cho's face tonight?" Jane, laughing, asked Lisbon after Cho had driven away.

"I would never have pegged Cho to believe in witchcraft," Lisbon commented. She opened her car door, but hesitated before getting in. "Are you staying here a bit longer or are you going home now?"

Jane hesitated. CBI meant the comfort of the familiar leather couch, while home meant the deathly silence and the tension in the air. He looked at his wife and saw the desire she had to have him come home with her. He couldn't disappoint her on something so small. "I think I'll go home with you," he told her.

She didn't say anything and got in the car. If it weren't for the lamppost shining on her face, he would have missed the very small and quick smile that appeared on her face. He got in the car and before he put his seatbelt on, Lisbon leaned across the seats and kissed him. The gesture took him aback and he didn't respond, and even slightly pulled back. Lisbon, embarrassed, immediately broke the kiss, leaning back in her seat.

"Teresa..." he began, not knowing exactly what to say. She ignored him as she put her seatbelt on and drove off. The ride home was tense. Jane hadn't meant to react the way he had. She had surprised him. They hadn't really kissed the last few days and considering how hot and cold she had been that day, he really hadn't expected the kiss. Jane tried to think of what to say. He was generally good with words, but they were usually staged words, part of an act. This wasn't an act. This was his wife, whom he had embarrassed, but most of all hurt. He didn't know what he could say to repair the damage.

Finally, when they got home, she was the one who managed to ease the tension. She finally looked at him and asked him if he wanted tea, which he agreed to instantly. As he watched her make him tea, he felt an intense wave of love for his wife swipe through him. She never really made the tea the way he really liked, but there was always this hint of flavor to it that was particularly hers. Even though, taste-wise it wasn't his favorite kind, there was a spice of love in it that made it especially dear to him. She smiled nervously at him as she set two cups on the kitchen table. She sat next to him and blew on her herbal tea (the fruity kind he hated). He took a sip of his own tea and it was just as he had predicted, Teresa-flavored. Just the kind he needed tonight.

"Do you think Tamsin Dove has something to do with the murder?" Lisbon broke the silence, speaking as casually as she could.

Jane shook his head, grateful that they could at least talk. "Not directly, no. I think she's involved somehow, but I can't exactly grasp how. I need to think about things. This is a complex case. A lot of unhappy kids in that town."

"A lot of unhappy kids everywhere," Lisbon said, a sad note in her voice. She thought about her childhood, her brothers', Cho's, Rigsby's. Even though Jane had never spoken much about it, she knew he had had a difficult relationship with his father. The best thing all of them could do was not to repeat the same mistakes their parents had. Jane, no matter what he thought, hadn't. She knew he had been a good father. She knew every time she saw him with a child. It made her yearn to leave their well-thought, rational decision to wait to have children. "Your child wasn't though," she told him softly.

"It didn't do her much good in the end," he said bitterly.

She put a hand on his wrist and was happy when he didn't pull away. "She was happy when she was alive. Nothing is more important than that, Patrick." She looked intently at him, never breaking away. After a few moments, he finally met her gaze and she repeated, "NOTHING is more important."

He nodded, but wasn't convinced. She sighed and got up. "I'm going to bed," she told him. He nodded again, but didn't make a move to get up as well. She was pretty sure he was going to spend most of the night brooding. Suppressing another sigh, she went upstairs and hoped that she wouldn't have trouble sleeping.

* * *

She ended up hardly sleeping at all. At around 5am, she heard the front door open. She vaguely wondered how he would get to work as his car was still at the CBI. A little past 6 o'clock, she finally got up, showered and drove to work. As expected, Jane was there lying on the couch. She went straight to her office and began to do the mountain of paperwork that needed to get done. They had closed 3 cases recently and she had fallen behind on the paperwork. She would have to ask the others to do the field work that day on the Elkins case.

She barely saw her husband all day. He went with Cho to interview the family and the little time he was at the office, he was lying on his beloved couch. By the time Cho had left to get something to eat and Rigsby and Van Pelt were watching the Elkins' home, she still hadn't spoken a word to Jane.

She was surprised, even though she shouldn't have been, when she saw him from the mirror, standing in the middle of the ladies' restroom.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, turning around.

He took the few steps separating them. He cupped her face and kissed her. It surprised her, but she responded almost instantly. They hadn't kissed in days, not counting the sloppy, horrible kiss from the night before. She wrapped her arms around him, reveling in his embrace and affection. She pulled away when she realized where they were. She stared at the floor, unable to meet his gaze. She felt completely vulnerable. Their relationship was mending, but nothing was really stable. Jane was completely unpredictable.

He put a finger under her chin and forced her to look at him. "I'm sorry about last night," he said to her and then added as an explanation, "In the car. You took me by surprise, which, I know, is ridiculous. If you want to kiss me, kiss me. I can't imagine a moment in my life when I wouldn't want to kiss you back. Last night, it was surprise. That's all it was."

She shifted her gaze to the left and nodded. She had been mortified when he had pulled away from her kiss. It had felt like all her fears had realized in the span of two seconds. She had forced herself to put her embarrassment aside and concentrate on making the best of what they had at that moment. It felt like a glorified friendship more than anything else.

Without actually thinking, she leaned in and kissed him, testing his reaction. Unlike the night before, he immediately reacted by kissing her back with more fervor than he had in a really long time. He pulled her up in his elation, forcing her to stand on the tip of her toes, not that she minded. She smiled in the kiss. This was good. This was very good.

"Why don't you come work on Van Pelt's computer?" Jane suggested when they finally broke apart. He had really missed her company the last few days and wouldn't mind having his wife nearby while he took his evening nap.

She nodded. She had missed him as well. "We better leave before someone catches us. We really shouldn't kiss in the building again. It's a really bad idea. "

* * *

As she and Jane were sitting in her car in front of the Elkins' house, Lisbon finally felt that they were back on track when he let her in on his 'revealing spell' plan. Jane also felt connected with his wife again, pleased that she had let him carry out his plan without much of a protest.

"I think we should have sex tonight. Once we're done with Elkins' arrest."

She looked at him, surprised. "Let me check my planner. See if I'm free," she said sarcastically.

"I'm just saying, it's been a while. You clearly want to as well."

"What makes you think that?"

"You're wearing your 'Lisbon wants some lovin'' jeans."

"Excuse me?"

"You wear those jeans when you want to have a lot of sex. They make you feel sexy." She furiously blushed at his statement. Embarrassment definitely did not make her feel sexy. "Ah, don't be embarrassed," he continued.

"It's been sixteen days."

"What?" Jane asked, confused.

"The last time we had sex was sixteen days ago," Lisbon explained.

Jane felt a bit guilty. He really had made things difficult for his wife the last couple of weeks. "I'm sorry."

"I'm your wife, '' she went on. ''You're supposed to talk to me. That's what I'm here for. How can I help you if you shut me out?"

"I didn't want to shut you out, I swear. I just... couldn't talk."

"I know." She truly understood. She had known on her wedding day what kind of man she was marrying. It still hurt when he shut her out though. "Next time, at least try."

"I will," he answered seriously, trying to show with his tone that he wasn't taking things lightly. It seemed to satisfy her and she smiled at him. She looked gorgeous. He really wished they weren't on a stakeout so he could take her clothes off. Meanwhile, Lisbon's attention was directed to the Elkins house when she heard some noise from across the street. They watched as the jeep pulled out of the driveway.

"Here we go," she said as she started the car.

"Better call Cho," Jane pointed out, looking at Lisbon rather than the jeep.

"You call him. I'm driving."

After talking to Cho, eyes still on his wife, Jane casually said, "I do love your jeans, by the way. I spent all day watching your hips swaying in them. Very sexy."

"Not the time, Jane," she said, semi-annoyed.

"I'm just saying," Jane defended himself in the most casual and innocent tone, "that my wife is very hot. That's all."

She didn't say anything, but after a minute or so, she grinned. She doubted they were going to sleep at all that night.

~o~

**Author's Notes:** Okay so I'm aware that this one isn't _fantastic_. I'm really, really sorry. You guys are absolutely awesome. Your support is amazing. I really tried to make this better, but I have to say that this episode and the next three have not been particularly inspiring. Just hang in there, season 2 is coming and I'm really excited about writing it :D


	13. 13 Playing with Russian Fire

_**13. Playing with Russian Fire**_

~o~

"Nice outfit," Jane commented as he walked into the bathroom. "You should wear this to work more often."

Lisbon was sitting on the toilet seat, shirtless, curling her hair. "Very funny," she deadpanned.

Jane grinned at her and tucked a finger under her bra strap to gently caress her shoulder. She shivered with desire. The two week dry spell had ended with an even more active sex life than they had before, but unfortunately, they didn't have time that morning as a body was waiting for them downtown.

"Help me with my hair, will you?" she asked Jane when they were back in the bedroom.

He stood behind her and gently gathered her hair up as she put her turtleneck shirt on. When she was done, he leaned closer to kiss her behind the neck, just above the collar of her turtleneck shirt. He let her hair down again, brushing his fingers through her hair. He loved her hair curled like this. It felt like it was wrapping around his fingers on its own.

"Why didn't you put your shirt on before you curled your hair?" he asked her.

She turned around, a teasing smile on her lips. "You tell me," she challenged him, knowing full well that he would easily guess the reason.

"You tease," he said, laughing, when he realized that she had purposely put on a show for him, not that he was going to complain.

"Just wanted to remind _you_ what's underneath all that clothing," she justified herself.

"Oh, you shouldn't worry about that. I've got a naked Teresa Lisbon forever engraved in my mind."

* * *

The case seemed straight-forward enough: a robbery gone wrong. After giving orders to her team, Lisbon drove back to the Caid office to talk to the victim's wife. She wondered where Jane had gone. He usually disappeared in the middle or around the end of a case, not at the beginning. As she was getting near the building, a sign on a building caught her eye: Garrety's. With a sigh that slightly resembled a groan, she parked in front of the restaurant. Unsurprisingly, Jane was there, sitting in a booth, a full English breakfast in front of him. She sat in the seat opposite him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Having breakfast. Bacon?"

She held up her hand as a refusal. "Couldn't you have said something? Don't wander off without telling anyone."

"Yes, mom," he mocked. "Besides, I did tell you and Cho I was coming here for some eggs."

"I thought you were joking," she explained.

He pointed at his food. "Clearly, I wasn't."

She sighed, but decided to drop it. There was no point arguing with him on this. "I'm going to talk to Lashley's wife. Wanna come?"

He nodded. "Let me finish this first."

She made a face and sunk deeper in the booth, arms crossed.

"Oh, don't pout. It's fruitless. You're drop-dead gorgeous when you have that look on your face. It's not going to convince me to eat faster. "

She didn't move a muscle.

"Seriously? That's how you're going to be? Here we are, having a lovely breakfast together, away from the office and you refuse to enjoy it. "

She pointed her finger at him. "Exactly. 'Away from the office' when we should be _in_ the office. "

Jane gave her his trademark Cheshire cat smile. "Ah, you love me anyway. "

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Not particularly at this moment. " The things she had to put up with.

* * *

Jane and Lisbon were sitting in the car after talking to Mrs. Lashley. Lisbon was on the phone with Van Pelt while Jane was patiently waiting, playing Sudoku to distract himself. "Thanks, Van Pelt," Lisbon said as she hung up. "I've got Kathryn Hawkes' work address," she told Jane. "It's not too far from here."

"Something's bugging you," Jane stated as Lisbon started the car and drove off.

"The wife," she began, "she was so cold. I mean, she told us she felt distressed, but she didn't look it one bit. It's like she didn't care about her husband."

"Hm," Jane mused, "you would probably react in a very similar way if I died."

"I would care if you died!"

"I'm not saying you wouldn't care. I'm just saying that if I were to die, you would probably appear to not be grieving at all when we both know how devastated you would be," he said the last part of the sentence in a teasing, amused tone.

She was not amused. "It's not funny, Jane."

"Sorry. I just don't think you should be too harsh on Stevie Lashley. She loved her husband and is deeply hurting. Put yourself in her shoes." Lisbon swallowed hard. Didn't he understand that she didn't want to put herself in Mrs. Lashley's shoes? She couldn't imagine, not even for an instant, her husband's death. It was too horrid. Jane, sensing her vulnerability, squeezed her thigh gently.

"Aw, come on, Lisbon. I'm not going anywhere."

"I don't understand how you can make light of something like that."

"Better make light of it than worry about it all the time," he mused. She looked at him, unconvinced. Jane had shown more than once his worry for her life. She knew it was something that kept him up at night. "I'll stay in the car," he told her once they arrived at Hawkes' office.

"Suit yourself," she said as she got out.

Jane watched her go. He just needed a moment to collect himself. Even though he pretended to be carefree, discussing spouses' deaths was never an easy topic for him. Obviously, his wife wasn't fooled by nonchalance. Nevertheless, he preferred to make light of it, for her sake.

* * *

Jane tiptoed into the bedroom. He was hoping his wife would be asleep. From Cho's answers on the phone, he was pretty sure Lisbon was extremely angry. He listened for any indication that would tell him if she was awake or sleeping, but he couldn't hear anything. He assumed that she was asleep, since she wasn't a loud breather and she would have definitely said something by now. He quietly undressed to his underwear and when he was about to slip into bed, her bedside lamp lit up.

"You stole _The Moro _from Arlov?" Lisbon's steely voice filled the room.

Jane jumped in surprise. "Gees, woman, you scared the crap out of me!"

"Even though I ordered you to stay away from Arlov. And you had to bring Cho and Rigsby as well."

"Well, I needed their help to steal the painting," he answered sheepishly, as he got into bed.

"You don't realize what you did, do you?"

"What?"

"He could kill you for something like that. He wouldn't even have to lift a finger and you'd be dead."

He shrugged. "Nah, not worth the fuss of killing a CBI employee."

She stared at him, anger seeping out of her eyes. After a moment, she turned her back to him and turned off her lamp. "Good night," she said, but clearly not meaning it.

* * *

"Are you gonna be grumpy like this in the room?" Jane asked Lisbon as they walked toward Caid's office.

"Yes, I am." She had barely spoken to her husband all morning. What made her even angrier was his apparent lack of concern that he had put his life in serious danger.

"Just asking, " he defended himself before adding, "I don't think it's very professional."

"Seriously, don't push me," she said angrily. Did he not realize that this morning was not a good day to push her buttons? He was usually good at laying low when he had done something that really angered her.

"I said I'm sorry."

He was finally starting to understand the situation. However, she wasn't going to let him off the hook. "You had express orders to stay away from Arlov."

"That's why I didn't tell you. You have total deniability."

"That's beside the point." She was at the point of pouting. He would have to grovel later on.

"The point is my brilliant plan worked like clockwork."

"What plan? " she asked, annoyed. "This case is not closed. You haven't done anything yet."

"Not yet, but you watch."

And watch, she did. Jane, once again, found the killer by opening a whole can of worms.

* * *

Lisbon slumped in the booth in front of Jane. "Chili's, really?"

"They have fantastic ribs here. Also, Michael Scott is a big fan."

"Michael Scott? Who's Michael Scott?" she asked impatiently. She really wasn't in the mood for Jane's enigmatic remarks.

"The Office."

"Right." She nodded, not really caring what a fictional character thought of a restaurant.

"How long will you be grumpy?"

"Until you realize the danger of your stunt."

"Fine, it was dangerous, " he conceded. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not, " she retorted, not believing his sincerity. She had known him long enough to know when he was only saying things just to appease her. She just wished he would realize, for once, that some of his stunts were really dangerous. "You're lucky it turned out to be a fake. Arlov doesn't really have a reason to kill you anymore."

"He wouldn't have killed me."

"You don't know that. You really don't know that."

"Okay, I might have pushed the envelope a little, but it was so much fun," he said, grinning. "I stole a 50 million dollar painting from a Russian mobster. How cool is that?"

She sighed. There was not much point arguing anymore. She had made her point, he had listened, and she knew he would take it into account in the future. It didn't mean he would listen, but he would take it into account. Some day she would really hang his head over it, though. Some day, she was going to let him off the hook and she had a feeling that the 'some day' was going to be sooner rather than later.

~o~

**Author's Notes:** Apparently, you guys don't judge me as severely as I judge myself ;) For the sake of not appearing to fish for compliments, I won't comment negatively on my chapters again. All I am going to say is that there are chapters coming up that I'm not super proud of. I won't say which, but let me assure you that I am doing everything that I can to make them half-decent :D Some episodes are just easier to write than others.

Seriously, guys, your constant support is _amazing_. I started writing this fic only for myself because I just wanted to see this plotbunny come to life. Now, I'm still writing this for myself but I'm also doing it for you guys. I just keep hoping that I don't disappoint you.


	14. 14 The Art of Being an Accordion

**14. The Art of Being an Accordion**

~o~

"A complete stranger takes you to a room, treats your wound, and then has sexual intercourse with you? " Lisbon asked Paul Fricke, their witness, incredulously. She was sitting on an armchair, Fricke sitting on the couch in front of her. Jane was sitting at the other end of the couch.

"What can I say? The Hippocratic oath is a beautiful thing."

"How well did you know Claire Walcott?" Jane asked.

"Uh, I don't really know her all that well. Met her just a few weeks ago. She was at a bar and I picked her up. Since then I've seen her occasionally for sex. "

"Is that what happened last night?" Lisbon asked, glancing at Jane. She had wondered for some time how he was with women before they met. She had often thought that he might have been something similar to this man.

"Yeah. I called and asked her to meet me for a drink. We came here."

Lisbon was still looking at Jane. He appeared to be looking at Fricke, but she could tell she was in his line of sight. She really wondered what he was thinking about their latest witness. "Does anybody else know you were here?" she asked Fricke, tearing her gaze away from her husband.

"Nobody. Just me and Claire."

"And how long have you been in the room?"

"Um, a few hours. I'd agreed to, you know, stay the night." When she heard this, Lisbon straightened up, angered by this man's impudence. Jane took a mental note as he saw his wife getting angrier by the second. "I was fond of Claire and it's a long drive home, so I stayed," Fricke went on. "I don't normally do that."

"No? Wh-what's your normal procedure?"

"After lovemaking? Depends on the type of woman."

"So you've got it down to a science?" Lisbon couldn't help smiling as she asked this question. She looked at her husband whose lips were slightly curved upward. Jane never liked giving his true emotions away, but Lisbon was glad that on this occasion he let it slip to share a small moment with her. However her husband used to be, he sure wasn't like Fricke now.

"I'm good at what I do," Fricke commented.

"Okay, Mr. Fricke, and what is it that you do?" Lisbon asked him, unable to help constantly glancing at her husband.

"I'm a pick-up artist."

Jane smirked, amused. This man was too much.

"A woman whisperer, if you will," Fricke specified.

"A pick-up artist?" Lisbon asked, trying to suppress laughter. "That's your profession?"

"Huh," Fricke scoffed. "You sound like my mom. Um, it's more of a total lifestyle kind of thing, you know? " he explained. "I practice my art, of course, that's my passion, but I teach, and I blog also…um, conduct seminars, workshops, that kind of thing."

"Is that good money?"

"Not bad."

"And do you take money from the women you pick up? "

"Sometimes. When I need to."

"Did you take money from Claire Walcott?" Van Pelt, who had been standing a little behind and taking notes, asked, seething from what Fricke had been saying so far.

"No, no. Like I said, I was fond of Claire. Um, I had planned to see her again. You really only want to monetize as an exit strategy," he explained.

"Paul," Jane addressed Fricke, getting his attention, "is your mother still alive?"

Fricke rolled his eyes. "I know where you're going with this, Dr. Freud, and, um, you're wrong. My mom's dead, as it goes, but, um, I loved her dearly, and she loved me."

"Who said anything about your mother?" Jane looked at him innocently.

"You just did," Fricke replied, confused.

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"Didn't," Jane stubbornly argued.

"What are you talking about?" Fricke asked, getting frustrated.

Jane laughed, giving him a friendly tap. "I was just kidding. I was just playing with you, Paul. Just kidding, mucking around." This man was clearly annoying Lisbon, so Jane was more than happy to have his own little revenge.

"Are we done here?" Fricke asked Lisbon, annoyed.

"Do you know who killed Claire?" Jane asked, not giving Lisbon time to answer Fricke's question.

"No."

"Interesting, " Jane commented, then said to Lisbon: "He's either an habitual liar telling the truth or he's an honest man lying."

"Do you keep a list of your pick-ups?" Lisbon asked Fricke.

"Yeah, of course," he answered, taking his phone out of his pocket. "I, uh, have them here. Names, numbers, and a one to ten grading system."

"Nice, something to show your grandkids," Lisbon commented dryly. The more she was talking to this man, the more she was grateful for her husband not sitting more than ten feet away from her. "We're going to need you to forward a copy of that list to us."

"Oh, yeah. Sure. What? You think this maybe could be a jealous ex-lover?"

"Could be."

"Wow," Fricke said happily surprised about the hypothesis.

A few minutes later, Van Pelt, Rigsby, Jane and Lisbon walked out of the room toward the parking lot discussing the possibilities of Fricke's involvement in the murder.

"What was she thinking? " Van Pelt told the other three. "She was so beautiful, and he's so _creepy_."

"Yeah, that doctor Rubenstein was hot too, how does he do it?" Rigsby asked.

"All you need is a basic understanding of the evolutionary psychology of women, vigorously and fearlessly applied," Jane explained. "You have to know which buttons to press."

"Like we're toasters?" Lisbon looked at her husband, annoyed. She couldn't believe what he had just said. It was as if Fricke had somehow shed some of his chauvinism onto her husband.

"Like men don't have buttons too?" Van Pelt added, equally annoyed.

"_Men_ are like toasters," Jane specified, looking at his wife. "Women, a little more like…accordions." Van Pelt walked to the car, while Lisbon looked at her husband incredulously. It was obvious from the look on her face that she wasn't going to make him forget what he had just said. "I thought that was a compliment," Jane told Rigsby after Lisbon walked away.

* * *

Lisbon was in the shower, trying to come up with a reason why anyone would murder Claire Walcott, when she suddenly felt cold air rush in as a naked Jane got in.

"So I'm an accordion?" she immediately asked him, almost as annoyed as she had been earlier.

"Okay, you're clearly overreacting," Jane began, but Lisbon interrupted him.

"Yes, like us, women, are prone to do."

"I didn't mean it like that and you know it." He ran his fingers through her wet hair, analyzing it. He grabbed the bottle of shampoo, squirted some in his hand, and began to apply it in her hair. "It took me a while to convince you to date me, didn't it?"

Lisbon subdued a little, remembering when they first began dating. She leaned back as he massaged her hair with the shampoo. "How did you know I needed to wash my hair?" she asked him with a frown.

"We were in a hurry this morning and you tied your hair in a ponytail. Half the time you have your hair like that is because it's dirtier than you would like it to be. You're also taking a shower in the evening. If your sole purpose was to relax, you would have taken a bath."

"Hmm," she hummed, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. "I hate this case. I can't figure out why anyone would try to kill Claire Walcott and I really want to wring Paul Fricke's neck."

"I know," he told her, rinsing her hair. "Don't worry, concentrate on your other open cases. I'll take care of this one."

* * *

The next day, after speaking to Paul Fricke again, Jane and Rigsby were at a drive-thru in order to quench Rigsby's considerable appetite. Jane was deep in thought, piecing together what he'd seen and heard the last two days.

"Are you sure you don't want anything?" Rigsby asked Jane after he ordered his food.

"Nah, not a big fast food fan. I'll have lunch with Lisbon. I bet she's skipped lunch again."

"Suit yourself. Have fun dragging her out of the office."

Jane smiled. "Oh, I've got my methods."

Forty minutes later, Lisbon was sitting in a cafe, annoyed about having been dragged away from her desk. Jane joined her, a plate with two hot Paninis, a coffee and a tea. "Now isn't this nice?" he asked as he sat down.

"Well, we're not being very discreet about our relationship."

"Nonsense. This isn't a candlelit dinner at a fancy restaurant; we're just having a couple of sandwiches at a corner cafe. I've been here tons of times with Van Pelt. No one thinks I'm married to her."

Lisbon sighed and took a bite into her Panini. She supposed Jane was right. No harm in two colleagues having lunch together. "How's the case going?" she asked Jane.

"I'm pretty sure I know who did it. Hard to prove though. I'm working on it. Don't worry," he said when she looked suspiciously at him, "I'll tell you as soon as I plan something."

"Hm," she said, not entirely convinced. "Where were you today anyway?"

"Crime scene. I wanted to check something. Oh, I ran into our friend Paul."

Lisbon groaned. "Have you seen all the women Cho's been interviewing? And that's only half of them." She shook her head. "I don't understand how anyone could be attracted to someone like Paul Fricke."

Jane smiled at her. "So I shouldn't be worried about him seducing you then?"

"I think you're safe," she answered dryly. The idea of ever being with Paul Frick was repugnant.

"Paul Fricke has it all wrong anyhow."

"The throng of women at the office seems to state otherwise."

"Oh, he knows how to pick up women. That's not the point. He doesn't know how to keep them. He doesn't know the fulfillment of being in a committed relationship with someone you love." Lisbon couldn't help smiling when she heard this as he went on, "I know how to pick up women, and I did just that, for a time, but it's such a superficial lifestyle. I much prefer being married to you."

She swiftly grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently before letting go.

* * *

That night, he got home so late that she was already asleep when he joined her in bed. She was so tired that she didn't even stir when he tightened his arms around her. It felt so nice to feel her in his arms, breathing, living. He had already lost a wife, and he knew he wouldn't be able to lose another one. She was so strong, but in the middle of the night, sleeping, her strength seemed to fade away and what Jane saw was a small, vulnerable woman. "Don't die on me," he said to his sleeping wife. "I wouldn't survive."

Several hours later, unable to sleep, Jane decided to go back to the CBI, to his beloved couch. He left a note for her, so she would know that he wasn't in trouble.

When she received a phone call from Minelli that morning, Lisbon understood why her husband wasn't home, and by the time she arrived at the CBI, she was fuming. She stomped towards the couch where Jane was sleeping. She kicked the couch, waking him up.

"What?" Jane asked, waking up. He didn't appear to have been in the deepest sleep in the first place.

"You know damn well what. You assaulted a man," Lisbon said angrily.

"Ah, I just tweaked him on the nose," he defended himself, keeping his eyes closed.

"Technically, that's assault."

"Technically, he's an ass. He deserved it."

"Yes, he is," Lisbon conceded, "but this is not a schoolyard. You simply cannot _do_ stuff like that."

"I did. I did it," Jane argued, eyes still closed, trying to avoid his wife's death glare more than actually trying to sleep, "and the seas didn't boil and the sky didn't fall."

"They will shortly. Wolcott is on his way down here with a $1,000-an-hour lawyer. If you give him a formal apology, he says he's willing to drop the whole matter."

Jane finally opened his eyes, starting at the ceiling. "Hm, let me think." He remembered how Walcott hadn't cared about his wife's death. How angry he had been thinking about his wife and child's deaths five years ago and trying to imagine his reaction to Lisbon's death. He closed his eyes again and said, "No."

"Would you _please_ be reasonable for once?"

"I'm busy," Jane argued.

"Right," Lisbon said dryly, looking at her husband lying on the couch, trying to sleep. He really didn't have the same definition of 'busy' as the rest of the world.

"I am. I'm just thinking that, uh... he's gonna drop the whole matter, in any case."

"Oh, really?" Lisbon deadpanned, unconvinced. Her husband's arrogance drove her mad sometimes.

"I guarantee it. He's a shallow narcissist. It's all about image. And this whole business makes him seem small and silly."

At this point, she was seething. She really couldn't understand why her husband was incapable of swallowing his pride just a little for her. Damn arrogance. In a moment of irritation, Lisbon tweaked his nose and left.

"Ouch," Jane said, but chuckled at his wife's gumption. He knew she didn't understand why he was so insistent on refusing to apologize to Walcott. He was refusing for Claire Walcott and his late wife, but most of all for her, his current wife. He would be devastated if something were to happen to her and it enraged him that Walcott wasn't mourning his wife properly as he should.

* * *

"I think I'm gonna stay here. Get a drink. I like this place," he told Lisbon as they watched Rigsby putting the hotel manager in the backseat of the car.

She frowned, confused by Jane's desire to stay, but shrugged not seeing the harm in it. "All right. Want me to pick you up when I'm done?"

He smiled at her. "That would be very nice." He wanted to kiss her, but he was pretty sure she wouldn't appreciate a kiss in front of this particular audience.

"So, I'm off the hook then? " Paul Fricke, who had followed them to the parking lot from the lobby, asked Jane and Lisbon.

"Yes, Mr. Fricke. You can resume your activities without our interruptions again, " Lisbon deadpanned before she walked away.

"Boy, who put a stick up her ass?" Fricke asked once Lisbon was out of earshot.

"That's my wife you're talking about," Jane told Fricke.

"Your wife?" Fricke looked at him, eyes wide with surprise.

"My wife," Jane confirmed, smiling a little as he watched Lisbon get in the car. He was lucky.

"You married _her_?"

Jane blinked at the man standing next to him. "Why the surprise?"

"Don't get me wrong, she's hot. I get the whole sexy, feisty cop thing she's got going on, but _marrying_ her?"

"I am not against punching you in the face right now, Paul," Jane told him dryly, smiling at him. "Be careful how you talk about my wife."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to be rude," Paul retracted his words. He wasn't sure he would come out winner of a fight with Patrick Jane. He seemed to be fairly protective of his wife.

Jane shrugged and walked away. He definitely needed a drink now. Unfortunately for him, Paul Fricke came to the bar about two hours later.

"You mind?" Fricke asked Jane, indicating the chair next to him.

"Not at all," Jane said politely. A couple of drinks helped Jane forgive Fricke for insulting Lisbon. Fricke sat down. "Rough night?" Jane asked him. It had been some time since Jane had left him and Fricke seemed to be dateless.

"Not bad. A couple of good phone numbers." Jane nodded, anger boiling up again, and took another sip of his drink to calm himself down. Meanwhile, Fricke was looking at Katie, the waitress. They exchanged looks, then Fricke looked back at Jane. "Yup. Two very tasty numbers."

Jane gave brief nod, but didn't say anything. He looked in front of him, trying to calm the anger he was feeling. He couldn't help thinking of Lisbon again. How precious she was, and how he would abhor if anyone treated her the way Fricke was treating Katie. Impulsively, Jane threw his drink at Fricke. He was pretty sure Lisbon would have loved to see that. "I wish you'd stop being so damn stupid," he said to Fricke, then gestured to Katie. "You have a good woman over there that knows you. And still loves you."

After contemplating what Jane said to him, Fricke left Jane to go talk to Katie.

As soon as he had gone, a woman approached Jane. She was very beautiful and was wearing quite a revealing red dress. "Excuse me?" she asked Jane and he turned around. "You looked kind of lonely," she said to him. "My friend and I were wondering if you'd like to join us." Jane looked at the table the woman was indicating where another brunette was sitting, waving at him.

"Hi," Jane waved back. "I'm sorry," he said to the woman in red. "I'm married." He pointed to his wedding ring.

The woman shrugged and went back to her table.

Jane played with his wedding ring, suddenly missing Lisbon immensely. Watching Fricke act like a complete asshole the last few days had made him extremely aware of how grateful he was for his wife. It had barely been over two hours since he had last seen her, but he was missing her already. He picked up his phone. "Hey, are you done?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way," she told him and hung up.

Twenty minutes later, she sat down next to him. "Had fun?" she asked him, smiling.

He gave a non-committal shrug. He wasn't sure if he would define the last two hours as 'fun'.

"You okay?" she asked, concerned. He wasn't often in this kind of brooding mood. She was always uneasy when he was, never sure what triggered it.

"I am now that you're here." He took her hand and squeezed it. She squeezed his back, smiling supportively. She was more than happy if all he needed was her presence. She could put off some of the work she had planned for this weekend. Jane was more important.

She looked at their surroundings. "This is a really nice place." She stopped looking around and focused on a particular table when she noticed the two women occupying it, glaring at her. She frowned and asked her husband, "Why are those women looking at me as if they want to torture me?"

Jane turned around to look at the women Lisbon was talking about. He recognized the woman who had hit on him earlier and her friend. "They came onto me earlier. I think they're correctly guessing that you're the wife I told them about."

"Lovely," she said dryly as she looked at the two women in sexy dresses. Compared to the way she looked, they were night and day.

"Ah, don't pay attention to them," he brushed off her concern. He leaned closer to her, a conspiring smile playing on his lips. "Listen, we still have that room rented by the CBI. How about we make the most of it?"

Lisbon shook her head firmly. "No. That would be completely unprofessional."

He snaked an arm around her waist and kissed her neck. "Come on, live a little," he whispered in her ear. "Think about that nice, comfy bed."

"Hmmm," she moaned as she turned her head to kiss him. With that creepy guy Fricke around, her husband looked more attractive than ever. So what if she broke the rules this once? She broke the kiss and said, "Well, it would be completely unprofessional." She gave him a wicked grin. "You would have to make it worth my while..."

"I promise I will," he said before kissing her again. "I'll show you what I meant about women being accordions. "

Maybe she wasn't wearing a sexy dress like those two women, but she didn't need to. She had the guy already.

~o~

**Author's Notes:** Thanks for all the amazing reviews. I wish I updated this little thing more often. I've got this project for the May Jello Forever challenge that's taking up all my free time. There's also the Summer Secret Santa. I've got too many projects going on. Hope you enjoyed this one :)


	15. 15 How Lone Ranger Wooed Fair Maiden

_Dedicated to Yana as she's been so incredibly supportive and unknowingly gave me the meat I needed for this story._

~o~

**15. How the Lone Ranger Wooed the Fair Maiden**

~o~

Jane was kneeling next to a suspect, trying to get him to confess the murder of two men.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt," Lisbon told Jane, barging into the interrogation room, "but we just caught a red ball. Are you gonna be much longer with this one?"

"Uh…" Jane hesitated answering, looking at the mirror on the wall.

Catching on to what was going on, Lisbon asked frustratingly, "Dammit, Jane, he's in a trance, isn't he?"

"Well, I would describe it more as a deep relaxation." Jane said, trying to defend himself.

Not buying his poor excuse, an annoyed Lisbon went on, "Hypnotized. You hypnotized him."

"Well, I was doing a favor for the organized crime unit."

"Those cowboys?" she asked, her annoyance rising by the second. She walked to the mirror, knocked on it and gave a dismissive gesture. "Time to go guys."

"I was just about to get the truth out of him," Jane insisted as Lisbon went back to his side. He appealed to her sense of justice. "He killed two people. If you walk very quietly to the door…"

"How many times have I told you 'no hypnotism'," Lisbon interrupted him. "It's illegal, and it's unethical. And you cannot keep on doing it!" She had very little patience tonight.

"Calm yourself, woman. It's no big thing." Only Patrick Jane could get away with calling her 'woman' and had only been able to do so since their engagement.

"Oh, really?" she asked sarcastically. "This man's lawyer is right this minute coming down the hallway wearing a mean face. Something tells me he'll argue that point with you. Let's go!"

"Let me get him out of his trace first, uh?" Jane was also getting annoyed. He found his wife's reaction to be a little over the top. It wasn't that big a deal.

"Well, be quick about it!" she told him with frustration.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered, looking at her while moving toward the suspect.

The door opened again and the suspect's lawyer walked in. "I'd like to speak to my client alone."

"Of course," Lisbon answered, looking down. She hoped he wouldn't notice something strange had been going on.

"Now!" the lawyer yelled.

"George, nice to talk to you," Jane said to the suspect, taking his hand to shake it. "Good luck with all your future endeavors." He slapped George's wrist twice, breaking him out of his trance, before walking away. Remembering something, he strode back to the table and took the bullet with which he had used to hypnotize the suspect. "That's mine."

"It's not funny," Lisbon told a smiling Jane when they were walking down the hallway.

"It is a little," he argued, remembering a similar situation two years earlier.

~o~

Two years earlier

"_You cannot hypnotize suspects, Jane. It's-"_

"_unethical," Jane finished the sentence for her._

"_Yes" she agreed, "and it's-"_

"_illegal."_

"_Yes!"_

_Jane smiled at her. "So I shouldn't tell you about hypnotizing you earlier today, huh?"_

"_What?" she asked him. Confused._

"_You agreed to have dinner with me."_

_She looked at him suspiciously, clearly not believing his statement. "Very funny." Not only could she hardly imagine getting herself hypnotized, but the thought of going out to dinner with him had never occurred to her. Of course she found him attractive, _very_ attractive, but that did not mean that he was dating material. Far from it, in fact._

"_I'm perfectly serious," Jane insisted._

"_Well, even if it is true, I was under hypnosis, so it doesn't count," she argued._

"_No one can be hypnotized against their true will."_

"_Jane, I'm starting to lose patience."_

"_Just starting?"_

"_Jane…"_

"_Fine" he conceded," I'll be straightforward. I find you extremely attractive, and not just physically. Sure, you are a very beautiful woman, but you also have a wonderful feisty personality and I would love to see you more outside the office."_

"_I appreciate your directness, but it's not gonna happen." She smiled, finally amused by the situation. She was also a little flattered._

"_It's just dinner at Selena's. What are you so afraid of?"_

"_Reverse psychology isn't going to work on me."_

"_True. It's not as efficient as hypnotism." He smiled, knowing that she wouldn't be able to resist that bait._

"_You didn't really hypnotize me, did you?"_

"_Come to dinner at 7 o'clock and I'll tell you."_

"_Fat chance."_

_Nevertheless, at 7:04 she was walking through the door of Selena's. It didn't take her long to see Jane sitting at a table in a secluded corner of the small restaurant._

"_Okay, so did you hypnotize me or not?" Lisbon asked, slumping into the chair in front of Jane. She hadn't bothered changing from her work clothes or putting on a bit more make-up. He liked that._

"_You'll have to sit through a 3-course meal before finding out." He grinned at her and handed her a menu._

"_Unbelievable." She shook her head. This man was incorrigible. She searched the menu for the fastest thing to be prepared._

"_Please, are we really going to pretend that you're here just to find out if I hypnotized you?"_

"_What?" she asked innocently._

"_We both know that you're here because you are just as attracted to me as I am to you. You're curious to see if this could go anywhere."_

"_No," Lisbon denied firmly. Jane definitely did not need the ego-stroke of knowing that she did find him attractive._

"_Your entire body language says otherwise."_

_Sensing that the evening could be very, very long, she decided to compromise. "Okay, how about this? I will treat this as a real date as long as you stop reading me. And no ordering my food for me. Deal?"_

_Jane grinned. "Deal." He already had a foot in the door._

_. . ._

_The evening surprised her. She had had such a good time that she hadn't noticed it was almost 11 o'clock. Jane hadn't put on the charm he usually reserved for suspects and witnesses like she had expected him to. Instead, he had been frank and open. He mentioned his wife and daughter with fondness and a soft smile. There was something happy through the sorrow, and she saw what a loving, caring father and husband he must hav been. He had also mentioned how he used to be like as a psychic and how he despised his former self. She had been surprised by it and had found it a little over the top how he had loathed his former self. Granted, she doubted he would have impressed her had she met him back then, but she was sure he had hardly been a horrible person. _

_He had also let her speak (and not speak) about her own life and past. He didn't try to guess anything and simply listened to the little she said. He didn't press on for more information and actually changed the subject when the conversation veered too close to the pain of the loss of her mother. _

_At some point, after they had finished their meal and both had a hot drink in front of them, she had noticed his hand lying on top of hers, loosely holding it. It had surprised her that she hadn't even noticed when he had touched her, but found the warmth of his hand particularly pleasant. It was at this point that she realized that it had been a long time since she had felt so comfortable with a man, emotionally and physically. She had begun to wonder about the possibility of taking him home. Not that night, but one night sometime in the future. In the near future._

_As if he had known what she had been thinking (which was a possibility), his eyes lowered to their touching hands and he intertwined his fingers with hers, lightly squeezing her hand. Her heart had hammered in her chest at the affectionate gesture and feelings that she hadn't felt since Gerry Banks had done almost the exact same thing when she was 19 had rushed through her._

~o~

Lisbon walked into the house, searching for Jane. She followed the sounds of playing and joking. She wasn't surprised to find Jane sword fighting with the little boy. He 'lost' his sword and held his hands up in surrender.

"Please, mercy, mercy," Jane play-acted. He noticed Lisbon at the bottom of the stairs looking at him. She lightly jerked her head, indicating that it was time to go. "Fair maiden," he explained to the boy, "D'Artagnan, I have to go. Goodbye."

"Fair maiden, huh?" Lisbon commented when Jane joined her.

"Always."

~o~

Over a year earlier

_Lisbon sighed in contentment as she laid her head on Jane's naked chest._

"_I am so relieved this case is solved." She sighed again, before adding, "I have to admit that I'm not sure we would have solved it without you."_

"_My, my, Agent Lisbon, are you actually admitting that I am useful to the team?" Jane grinned down at the mop of hair on his chest._

_She held up her finger, emphasizing, "Once. You've been useful once. Let's not get full of ourselves here."_

_He chuckled, running a lone finger along her back. 'Well, I don't mind the way you say 'thank you'."_

"_I thought you hated to be thanked?" she quipped._

"_Well, by friends and family of victims, yes, but with you it's different. You're the fair maiden I visit in the middle of night," he explained._

"_And have your wicked way with her?"_

"_Well, this is a first, but I wouldn't mind if it became recurrent."_

"_In your dreams."_

~o~

"Another minute and I would have missed them," Jane said once Victor Marquesa and his son Oscar had left the bullpen. "I do hate it when people say thank you."

"Why?" Rigsby asked.

"He likes to play the lone ranger. 'Who was that masked man? I never got a chance to thank him'," Lisbon explained and raised her eyebrows at Jane playfully.

Jane looked at Lisbon with surprise. He always saw the 'masked man' thing as an inside joke between them. It felt strange to share it with the team. But he reminded himself that it still was since the second part of that joke had her naked in bed. "Exactly," he agreed, looking around to see if anyone even caught a parcel of Lisbon's sexual connotation to it. Thankfully, everyone got distracted by Jackie walking into the bullpen, wearing an extremely revealing dress. Apparently, Jane wasn't the only one with a hot date that night.

Later, Jane came home quite late and Lisbon was already in bed, presumably sleeping. Not that it really mattered. He sneaked in upstairs and walked quietly into the bedroom. He gently laid on top of a sleeping Lisbon, waking her up.

"Jane?" she asked, turning around.

"No, it's the Lone Ranger," he answered chuckling.

She opened her eyes and saw her husband wearing a dark mask. "My mystery hero."

"I was hoping for a thank you from the fair maiden."

"Did you, now? Although, I haven't been a maiden in over a year."

Jane feigned shock. "Are you telling me you were a virgin when we met? Why, Lisbon, I would have never thought-"

She interrupted him with a kiss. "You're an idiot," she told him once she broke the kiss.

"But I'm your Lone Ranger idiot, right?"

"Yes, you are. Now take your clothes off so I can thank you properly."

"Yes, ma'am," Jane smiled and obeyed her.

"But keep the mask on."

~o~

The End.

~o~

**Author's Notes:** So sorry for the delay. I started a new job and had Summer Secret Santa. There's also the World Cup that's been distracting me. Finally, I hated the first version of this fic, so I completely axed it and wrote this version instead. I hope you all enjoyed, and thank you, once again, for the amazing support.

Cat


	16. 16 Love Cures the Blind with Cinnamon

**16. Love Cures the Blind with Cinnamon**

**~o~**

"Shoot it out. Shoot it out," Jane said to Lisbon, pointing at the van door, as the man bound and tied inside it was screaming for help.

"I can't. I can't," Lisbon insisted, panicked. "There's no time. Come on!" She told him as she started running away from the van. When she noticed that he wasn't following her, she ran back and took his arm. "Jane, come on, let's go." He shook his arm free of her grasp. "Jane, come on. Run, Jane. I mean it," she pleaded desperately. He seemed to be in some sort of trance, or in shock. She feared that she wouldn't be able to shake him out of his stupor and it might cause her husband's life. She tried to break through him once again, not knowing what else she could do: "Come on. JANE! Come on, run!".

Finally, he decided to make a move and run. When the van exploded, Lisbon was far enough away, but Jane was propelled into the air and fell on the hood of a car and then on the ground, head first. Lisbon turned around and ran back toward him. She helped him get up and he reassured her. "I'm okay."

"You all right?" She looked at him, worried.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm fine," he reassured her. He was aware that he had scared her, that for a second she entertained the thought that she might become a widow.

"Okay," Lisbon said. She took her cell phone out and dialed for help. "I'm gonna get - I need an ambulance now."

"No. No ambulance. I just got something in my eyes," Jane insisted and she hung up her phone. "Ah," he groaned in pain as he opened his eyes. Lisbon looked at him, worried, when Jane made a face.

"I can't see," he told her, alarmed. "I can't see."

She took his arm to steady him and crouched down a bit to look at his face. "I'm definitely calling an ambulance," she said, determined. No amount of kicking and whining was going to get Jane out of this one.

~o~

Lisbon was sitting in the waiting room, tapping her foot on the floor impatiently. "Mrs. Jane?" a nurse approached her.

Lisbon got up immediately. "How is he? Is he all right?"

"We'll tell you as soon as we know anything." The nurse gave her a reassuring smile. "Could you please fill these forms out?" She handed Lisbon the forms.

"Sure," she answered and sat down again to fill out the forms. She felt strange feeling forms out as Jane's wife. She was so used to hiding her marriage, and here she was, filling forms out for her husband.

Five minutes later, she gave the forms to the woman at the front desk. "These are the forms I was asked to fill out for my husband."

"Patrick Jane?" the woman asked as she took the forms.

Lisbon nodded. "Yes. Do you know when I can see him?"

She shook her head. "Someone will come get you as soon as possible, Mrs. Jane."

"Thank you." She went back to her seat, defeated. She hated not knowing what was going on.

Fortunately barely a minute later, a nurse came into the waiting room. "Mrs. Jane?" she said to the entire room.

Lisbon got up immediately. "Yes, that's me."

"We've just finished examining your husband," the nurse told her. "I'll show you to his room."

"Thank you," she said as she followed the nurse down the corridor.

"Here it is," the nurse pointed to a door.

"Thank you," she said again, thinking that she had said 'thank you' more times today than she had in the past week.

When she opened the door she saw Jane on the bed, a large bandage wrapped around his head, covering his eyes. She walked to the side of the bed and took his hand. "How are you feeling? "

"I'm still blind," Jane said dryly.

"I noticed. What did the doctor say?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. They just radiated my head and that's it."

She suppressed a sigh of exasperation, reminding herself that he had almost died. Instead, she squeezed his hand affectionately. "We'll know soon," she reassured him, hoping it wouldn't fall on deaf ears and that he would appreciate her feeble attempt to support him.

The door opened and Cho's head popped in. Lisbon froze for a second until she realized that Jane's legs hid their holding hands. "I've been told the doctor's coming in a minute," Cho told them. "Minelli's assigned a guard to the room, just in case. I'll wait out here until the doctor's talked to you."

Lisbon nodded. "Okay, thanks Cho." She waited a moment, making sure Cho was really gone and ran her fingers through Jane's hair. "I was so scared when I saw you being thrown up in the air by the explosion."

"As you can see, aside from my lack of vision, I'm fine," Jane said drily, either unconcerned or oblivious to his wife's distress.

She leaned down to kiss him. He was unresponsive at first, but Lisbon's warm lips on his soon persuaded him to kiss her back. "You're alive. That's what counts," she told him once they parted. Jane just shrugged, obviously not in a mood to rejoice about his escape from death.

The door opened and a doctor walked in. "Mr. Jane? I'm Dr. Bell." She turned to Lisbon. "You're Mrs. Jane, I presume?"

"Yes, Teresa Jane," Lisbon said, shaking the doctor's hand. It felt weird to use her married name. She rarely used it. Only their neighbors called her 'Mrs. Jane'. "Do you know what's wrong with my husband?"

"I have Mr. Jane's CT scan here." She held them up in the light to show Lisbon. "Doesn't look too bad. You're a lucky man, Mr. Jane. This could be much worse."

"Yes, that's what people keep telling me," Jane said, exasperated, "but why is it I can't see, doctor?"

"There's a moderate concussion, with short-term memory loss, disorientation, headache, and of course fleeting blindness." She looked at Lisbon, quickly catching on that the wife was the more rational one in the couple. "This is most likely due to small blood clots in the vessels around the eyes demonstrating a CVI, or cortical visual impairment."

"How long will his vision be affected?" Lisbon asked, hoping that Jane won't have to be blind for too long, for her own sake as much as his.

"Well, that's hard to say, really, the body's healing powers are unpredictable." Lisbon raised her eyebrows at this. Is that the best answer they would get? "But 48 to 72 hours is the norm," the doctor added, reassuring her. ''We must wait and see, so to speak."

"Ha!" Jane interjected. "Humor. Great. Everybody loves a witty doctor in times of trouble. You know what? I've heard enough. Do you think you can take this conversation outside, please?"

"Mr. Jane, this is temporary," Dr. Bell stressed, obviously losing patience with Jane's dry humor. "Your sight will return and you're going to be back to work, but it's going to take some time and patience."

"Well, time I have, '' Jane told her, ''but patience I lost a while ago." Jane was getting immensely frustrated. He understood that he narrowly escaped death, but losing his sight made it really difficult to be in a good mood right now. What he did, who he was, was defined by the way he saw things. Without his vision he was merely a parcel of himself.

"You're alive. Appreciate it," the doctor told him, annoyance underlining her words.

"Oh, I do. Believe me, I do." He's been surrounded by death enough to appreciate life.

"If you'll excuse me. I'll check in again later," the doctor told Lisbon.

"Thank you, doctor," Lisbon said as the doctor left the room. As soon as she was gone, Lisbon pinched Jane's arm, unable to suppress her frustration this time. He really was going too far.

"Ouch!" he griped.

"I'll do worse if you don't stop mouthing off to people who are trying to help you."

"She pinched me," he whined to Cho when he walked into the room.

"How is he?" Cho asked Lisbon, his voice full of concern. Jane would never admit it in front of Lisbon, but he was touched by his friend's compassion. It was nice to know that Lisbon wasn't the only one who cared.

"Guess what? He's a bad patient," Lisbon commented, happy to have an ally with her.

"Would have never thought," Cho deadpanned.

"I'm not a bad patient, she's a bad visitor."

"What did you find out?" Lisbon asked Cho.

"The victim is James Medina, 44, '' Cho said, looking at his notepad. ''A stock broker out of Highlands. The van wasn't his. It was reported stolen yesterday. We're digging up everything on Medina. Question: Is it possible he was on a bizarre suicide mission?"

"No, '' Jane answered. ''I looked in his eyes. That was very much a man who didn't wanna be where he was. Whoever did this wanted me to watch James Medina die in terror."

"They nearly killed you too," Cho commented.

"Well, that wasn't the intention though."

"What then?" Lisbon asked impatiently. Jane had tried her patience earlier and she really wasn't in the mood for his usual guessing games, especially that this time it concerned his safety.

"'You're next' was written on the man's forehead."

"Why?" Lisbon asked.

Jane scoffed. "I don't know why."

Cho looked at Lisbon, concerned. The distress on her face was unmistakable.

"You're gonna be fine," Lisbon said to Jane as cheerfully as she could, despite her own anguish.

"Yeah, probably," Jane said, unsmiling.

"We're gonna find who did this, '' Lisbon went on, trying to convince herself as well.

"Good," Jane commented, the dryness in his voice slightly evaporating. Lisbon turned to Cho, sharing her concern with him. "Please don't look at each other like that," Jane told them.

"Like what? '' Lisbon asked. ''You can't see," she reminded him.

"I can _feel_. I can feel your pity."

"Please, would you stop?" Even if he had lost his sight, she wasn't going to baby him in any way. If he wanted to wallow in self-pity, that was fine, but she wasn't going to encourage him. "We'll be back."

"Later, man." Cho and Lisbon walked out of the room. They walked silently side-by-side down the corridor . Cho watched Lisbon who was frowning, deep in thought. "He's gonna be okay," he reassured his boss.

"Of course he will," Lisbon said nonchalantly, forcing a smile. "He always makes such a big deal out of everything. The doctor said he would probably get his sight back in two or three days."

Cho nodded. "He's gonna be fine.''

~o~

Eight hours later, Lisbon pulled into the CBI parking lot, Terence Andrews sitting in the back. "You mind taking him in?" Lisbon asked Rigsby. "I think I'm going to stop by the hospital before going home. We can interview Andrews tomorrow."

"Sure, Boss."

She smiled her thanks as Rigsby pulled Andrews out of her car. As soon as the two were inside the building, she left the parking lot and drove to the hospital. When she walked into Jane's room, he looked like he was sleeping. Knowing Jane, though, that didn't mean anything. She walked to the side of the bed and took his hand. He didn't stir. He was asleep. Lisbon let go of his hand to walk across the room and bring the chair to Jane's bedside. She took his hand again and looked at him sleeping. She wished his eyes weren't bandaged. He always looked good when he was sleeping.

Next thing she knew, she was woken up by fingers running through her hair. She blinked and squinted at the light pouring in from the window. Finally, she noticed she was half-lying on Jane's bed.

"Hi," she said softly to him. "What time is it?"

"Uh..."

"Sorry." She looked at the clock. It was already past 6 o'clock in the morning. "My God, I spent the whole night here. How are you feeling?"

"Same. '' Jane shrugged. ''Yesterday was really boring. How's it going with the case?"

"Last night we arrested this guy who used to threaten Medina. We're interrogating him this morning."

"What's his name?"

"Terence Andrews. Ring a bell?"

Jane shook his head. "No. Anything else?"

"Not really." She rubbed the hand she was holding with her thumb. "I should go. I've got work to do and I need to go home and change."

"Stay a bit longer."

Ignoring the pull to stay by her husband's side and ensuring his safety, Lisbon shook her head, even though he couldn't see it. "I can't. I really have to go."

He sighed. "I hate it here."

She touched a curl of his hair. "I know you do. You just have to hang in there for a bit. Try to sleep some more. You'll be out of here in no time. I'll stop by again tonight."

She caressed his cheek and kissed him. Jane cupped her face and deepened the kiss. When she tried to lean back, he wrapped his arms around her neck, forcing her to stay. She let him at first, she had missed him at work the day before, but after a few moments she broke the kiss. When he tried to kiss her again, she leaned back as much as she could.

"Jane..." she pleaded. "I really have to go."

"Fine," he pouted as he disentangled his arms from her.

She gave him a small peck on the lips, ignoring his childish pouting. "I'll see you tonight," she said and walked out of the room, ignoring his well-staged puppy-dog face.

As she walked down the corridor, a voice called out, "Mrs. Jane." Lisbon turned around and saw Jane's doctor.

"Yes, doctor?"

"Um, we're having a few problems with your husband." To Dr. Bell's credit, she seemed to be a bit embarrassed.

Lisbon sighed. "What has he done?"

"He has insulted everyone on staff. He's quite a difficult patient."

"Imagine him at work," Lisbon deadpanned.

"Being compliant is as much a benefit to him as it is to us. He needs the rest. _Proper_ rest, '' she emphasized. ''Aggravating everyone in the ward doesn't qualify as rest." Dr. Bell looked at Lisbon and noticed that she appeared to be deeply embarrassed by her husband's behavior. It wasn't really the woman's fault that her husband was an ass. Dr. Bell took a deep breath and said as congenially as possible, "If you could possibly talk to him."

Lisbon looked at her watch. "I will. I really have to go now, but I promise I'll give him a call later."

Dr. Bell smiled at her. "Thank you, Mrs. Jane. I appreciate it."

"No problem. I really apologize for his behavior. I am very sorry you got stuck with him," she said before walking away. It was already 6:30am and she had to go home, shower and change, and then get to the office before 8 o'clock. She had paperwork to do before they interrogated Andrews.

It shouldn't have surprised her, but it did, when Jane turned up at the CBI around 9:20, sunglasses on his nose and cane in hand, accompanied by Officer Powell. He was supposed to be in the hospital. Resting. Getting better. In a place where she didn't have to worry too much about his well-being.

"What the hell?" she asked him angrily.

"Doctor's orders. She said that the best thing for me was to get back to work."

"She did not," Lisbon countered, not buying his weak excuse. "She said you insulted the entire ward and were a complete pain in the ass."

"Nah," he denied. Then asked innocently, "So?"

"So you can't do that." She would be angry, but she was too happy to see him. Nevertheless, she wasn't going to let Jane know that.

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" Jane asked her drily. "Just sit there and listen to television? Besides, the food was terrible."

"You need the rest," Lisbon tried to convince him. Didn't he understand that he needed to rest in order to heal? She was just as much worried about him, if not more, than he was worried about himself.

"I need to work."

"You're blind," she argued.

"It's no problem, honestly. My other senses are heightened. Super-heightened. I'm like Daredevil," he explained with a smile at the corner of his mouth. "Now if you'll excuse me."

Van Pelt eyed him, completely unconvinced.

"Okay," Lisbon said, knowing full well that there was no point arguing with him on this.

"Okay," Jane confirmed, walking away. Lisbon watched as he ran into a pole."Heightened," Jane confirmed, giving Lisbon a thumbs up.

Ten minutes later, Lisbon walked into the bullpen and noticed only Van Pelt and Cho. "Where's Jane?" she asked them.

"I think he went into the room where Rigsby's interrogating Andrews," Van Pelt told her.

Lisbon sighed, "Which room is it?"

"209," Cho told her.

"Jane?" Lisbon said as she barged into room 209.

"Oh," he jumped. "Oh, that was very loud. That was very loud."

She rolled her eyes. "Come on." He got up and took a hold of her arm. He moved his hand up to her shoulder and she guided him out of the room.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop interrupting interviews like that?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, obviously not feeling sorry at all. He stopped when he felt the pillar and turned around to lean against it. "Just a minute," he said to Lisbon as he took his sunglasses off.

"What are you doing?"

"How will I know if I can see or not if I have bandages on?" he asked, taking the bandages off his eyes.

Lisbon looked up at him, hopeful. If Jane had recovered his sight, he would be very useful to their investigation and they could find the murderer more rapidly.

And then Jane would be safe again.

"Here goes," he said, slowly opening his eyes.

Lisbon watched him closely, then impatiently asked when he wasn't saying anything, "Well?"

He blinked a few more times before saying, "Black as night."

Lisbon couldn't help feeling disappointed. "I'm sorry."

"Never mind," he said, putting his sunglasses back on. "Andrews didn't do it."

"Did you sense that with your superpowers?" she asked teasingly.

"Yes, I did," he played along. "He's filled with anger, but not fearful, guilty, murderous anger. That has a tang of ammonia about it. His is a more clean, righteous anger. Lemony."

"Lemony?" Lisbon thought the blindness made his even wackier than he usually was.

"This blind thing really works. Without my vision, I can tune into my other senses much more clearly."

"That's great. Let me go make you a superhero costume," Lisbon suggested, and Jane raised a hand to her shoulder as she continued: "What do you want to be called?" He padded his way up to her neck and she asked, confused, "What are you doing?"

"I wanna know what your face feels like when you're smiling," he answered as his hand traveled to her face and mouth. She chuckled, amused as his fingers traced the shape of her smile.

"Uh, so... what's the deal, boss?" Rigsby interrupted, frowning, clearly uncomfortable with an intimacy he wasn't accustomed to see between his boss and the consultant. Lisbon and Jane turned in his direction as Jane lowered his hand from her face. Lisbon tried to hide the feeling of having been caught with a hand in the cookie jar.

Nonchalantly, Lisbon told Rigsby, "Have Forensics check him for any explosive residue. If he comes up clean, let him go."

"Will do," Rigsby said before walking away.

"I'm still convinced there's a connection between Medina and me," Jane pointed out. "So before you make that superhero costume I'm looking forward to," Lisbon's eyebrows rose in amusement as he went on, "could you take me to visit his widow?"

"Maybe," she answered, not wanting to acquiesce to his every whim and desire, especially as he had just once again, interrupted an interrogation.

"Thank you," Jane answered, clearly taking her 'maybe' as a yes. "And incidentally, you're smelling particularly good today."

Lisbon's eyes shifted as she thought that now was the right time to walk away. It had already been way too close with Rigsby catching Jane 'feeling' her smile. Jane's blindness definitely made him go to dangerous territories. She silently walked away as Jane continued his praise, "Is that cinnamon in the mix there somewhere? Lisbon?" he asked when he began to notice that he couldn't sense her anymore. He felt the space in front of him to find that his wife was already gone. That woman was insufferable. She couldn't take the smallest compliment.

~o~

Lisbon watched Jane bullshitting to the best of his abilities. He always surprised her when he started using his honey-tongued tactics. It was so obviously fake to her; she had a hard time believing some people actually bought it.

"Holding something of James' would help me pick up a feel for him. Get a sense of his being," Jane was saying to Mrs. Medina.

"Okay," Mrs. Medina agreed, bravely smiling through her grief. She excused herself out of the room.

"Thank you," Jane told her before she walked out of the kitchen.

"_Sense of his being_?" Lisbon asked him when Mrs. Medina was out of the room. "What are you playing at?"

"Just go with it. I have to practice this touchy-feely stuff," he explained. "It's been a while."

Lisbon touched his arm affectionately. "You're not gonna be blind forever."

"No, right," Jane said dejectedly. "Because bad stuff like this doesn't happen nearly as often as people think it does." He got up from his chair and Lisbon grabbed him to guide him out of the kitchen, rubbing his back reassuringly. She hoped his vision would come back sooner rather than later, just for his mood alone.

~o~

That evening, Lisbon was alerted that something was wrong when she noticed the commotion in the bullpen. She quickly went to see what was going on. Jane was lying on the floor, Van Pelt hovering over him. Another agent, Walsh, Lisbon thought, was calling the paramedics. Lisbon swallowed hard at the scene in front of her. It wouldn't do anyone any good to panic. Instead, she calmly kneeled down next to her husband's body, and felt for his pulse and breath. It all appeared to be normal.

"What happened?" she asked Van Pelt gently, as if Jane was sleeping instead of being knocked out.

"I don't know. He was sitting on the couch and we were talking. He seemed to zone out at some point and I asked him if he was ok. He said yes, got up, walked a few steps and then fainted. He's been unresponsive since."

Lisbon nodded. She gently tapped Jane's cheek. "Jane? Jane?" After a moment or two, he stirred and blinked, opening his eyes.

"Lisbon? What happened?" he asked, slowly trying to sit up.

Lisbon helped him as she answered, "You passed out. Paramedics are on their way."

"You didn't need to send anyone for that. I just got a bit dizzy, that's all."

Just as Jane was saying this, two paramedics approached them. "We received a call that someone fainted," one of them said.

"Passed out," Jane corrected. "For five seconds. I hardly need medical assistance."

"He was propelled in the air from a bomb yesterday, hit his head and has been blind since," Lisbon explained to the paramedics, keeping her composure as she tried to hide the extent of her worry to everyone in the room. "He was in the hospital until this morning when he badgered the doctor into discharging him."

"That's not exactly how I would have explained the situation," Jane pointed out, reflecting that Lisbon was once again exaggerating about his conduct and behavior.

"How are you feeling, Mr...?" one of the paramedics asked him.

"Jane, Mr. Jane. I'm fine, really. No need to get all fussy."

The paramedic smiled. "We're still going to check your vitals," he said, helping Jane back on the couch.

"What's going on?" Minelli asked, walking into the bullpen.

Lisbon immediately explained the situation, as the paramedics checked Jane out and put the patches back on his eyes.

"Is he all right?" Minelli asked.

"Oh, I'm a hundred percent okay," Jane said. "No need to send me back."

"Sir, he needs to be in a hospital," Lisbon insisted. "He has to go if you order him to." Lisbon was desperate. Her husband was being extremely stubborn and she wasn't above using low tactics to get what she wanted at this point. Couldn't Jane tell how worried she was about him?

"I could, but someone did try to kill him, remember?" He nodded to Lisbon, telling her that he was looking for Jane's best interest. "We can protect him better here. At less expense."

"Thanks, Virgil."

"Okay, but this a favor. If you die in this department, I'm responsible. I do all the paperwork." Minelli told him, making sure that Jane was aware he still wasn't completely okay with him taking his favorite agent down the aisle. Minelli turned to Lisbon. "In fact, if he does die for whatever reason, move him to a public area, would you? I'd be very grateful," he told her.

"I hope he's smiling," Jane said sarcastically as he put his sunglasses on.

"Places to be," Minelli yelled out, walking away.

"Don't we all?" Jane retorted, moving to get up from the couch and knocking his cane down in the process. He felt for the cane and asked Lisbon impatiently, "A little help here?" She rolled her eyes as she moved towards him, helping him get up. "Just the stick," he insisted. "Just the stick." She handed him the stick and smiled in annoyance.

"Thank you," he said to her, but she ignored him, walking away rapidly.

That night Lisbon stayed late, doing paperwork she had put off the last few days. She didn't mind staying late. Usually, her reason to go back home was Jane, and that night he was sleeping at the CBI. Finally, when she could no longer stifle yawns at around 11 o'clock, Lisbon turned her computer off and headed out. The bullpen had emptied hours ago, Jane the only one remaining. She walked to Jane's couch, where he was sleeping, or pretending to be sleeping. She kneeled next to the couch and she lovingly caressed his cheek.

"My husband," she whispered lovingly, a hint of worry masking her voice.

Jane took her head and kissed it gently. "I love you too."

"Want me to stay here tonight?"

He shook his head. "No. You need to sleep in a proper bed. I'll be all right."

"Okay," she nodded. "But call me if you need anything. Promise?"

"Promise. Drive safe."

She smiled, knowing full well who between the two was the safest driver. She kissed him on the lips and unlike that morning, she was the one who had trouble letting go. He gently pushed her away. "Go sleep. I'll be fine."

She got up and took one last look at him. "Good night."

~o~

The next day, Rigsby told Lisbon about Krager, the latest connection between Jane and Medina. "The legal fees alone nearly bankrupted Krager. His wife took their son, moved east and remarried."

"So where's Krager now?" Cho asked.

"Based on what we could find, he was so devastated losing his family, his whole world collapsed," Rigsby said.

"No current address. He hasn't filed a tax return in years," Lisbon explained giving the paper evidence to Cho. "His last known employer was Lynch-Halstead in 2001."

"Boy, you really did a number on him," Cho said to Jane.

"Yes, I did. Thank you," Jane said dryly.

"No. You simply confirmed what she knew in her heart already."

"Has anyone tried contacting her? Jill Lamont?"

"Yeah, I left word. No answer yet."

"We put an APB out on Paul Krager. Cho and I are gonna follow up on some leads. YOU stay right there," she said to Jane and then looked at her team. "Nobody take him anywhere. No excitement whatsoever. Clear?"

"Clear, boss," Rigsby and Van Pelt said in unison.

"Crystal," Jane said.

~o~

"Looks like we've cracked it," Lisbon told Van Pelt as soon as the junior agent answered her phone. We found Paul Krager. He was obsessed with Jane and Medina. Remember he has a son? Krager told us he's living in the city now. He goes by the name Dan Hollenbeck. Van Pelt?" Lisbon asked when she didn't hear a word from her. "Van Pelt?" she kept asking. Finally, she hung up as she heard the line go dead. "That was weird." She frowned, going back to Cho and Krager.

"Call her again," Cho suggested, looking uneasy. He had a bad feeling about this.

Lisbon called, but Van Pelt didn't pick up. She was still frowning as she said, "I'll try Rigsby." She called Rigsby and he didn't pick up either.

"I just tried Jane," Cho said to her. "No answer. Something's definitely not right."

"You stay with Krager," Lisbon ordered Cho, immediately switching to action mode. "I'll go back to the CBI to see what's up." She walked toward the car, but after a few seconds, she broke into a run. She had a really bad feeling about this.

Breaking every speed limit on the way, Lisbon drove to the CBI. When she was a few hundred feet away, she heard shots. She pressed on the accelerator and parked close to the parking lot, where the shots were coming from. She was desperately looking for Jane, Rigsby or Van Pelt when she saw a man with a gun, firing at a vehicle. A vehicle that had two people inside who looked a lot like Jane and Van Pelt. She ran to the gunman and as soon as she had a clear shot, she fired. The man fell to the ground and she sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank God. Oh, thank God. Thank God," Van Pelt kept repeating.

"What? What happened?" Jane asked. "Did something good happen?"

Lisbon looked at them. "Didn't I say no excitement of any kind?"

Van Pelt got out of her car and whispered "Rigsby" before running to the building. Lisbon walked around the car and opened Jane's door. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "I was so scared," she said between kisses. "I knew something was wrong." She kissed him with a desperation she hadn't felt in a while. "I was so afraid I wouldn't arrive in time."

"I'm okay," he whispered gently. "I'm okay."

They heard sirens and Lisbon reluctantly let go of her husband. She helped Jane get out of the car. As the police parked, she wrapped her arms around him one last time, hugging him tightly. He kissed the top of her neck, caressing her hair. "I love you too," he told her before stepping back as the policemen approached them.

~o~

The next day, Lisbon walked into the CBI at a time _she_ would even consider early. The entire building was empty. Jane had insisted on her going back home to sleep, but even though Dan Hollenbeck was dead, Lisbon didn't want to leave Jane by himself for too long. When she walked in, she noticed Jane was already awake, sitting up on the couch. She left her case on a chair and slowly walked towards him. He was taking his eye bandages off.

Jane blinked as his eyes came into focus on a form in front of him: his wife. He smiled at the sight, happy to be able to see her again. She walked to him, smile on her lips, having guessed that his sight had returned.

"Oh, you have no notion how good it is to see your face, Rigsby."

"Rigsby?" Lisbon asked, hurt and confused.

"Aha," Jane laughed, pointing a finger at her.

She smiled at him, amused, despite herself. "You're funny."

He cocked his head to the side, sort of saying 'yeah, I try'. Then in a surge of elation, he got up from the couch and took her in his arms, twirling her around. She yelped, laughing, happy to see her husband's bad mood finally lifted.

"I missed your face," he told her as he put her down and kissed her cheek. She smiled. "I missed your smile," he continued, kissing her mouth. "Your eyes." She blinked as he pressed a soft kiss on each eyelid. "Your hair." He kissed her hair.

"I missed _your_ smile," she told him. "I haven't seen it the last few days."

He kissed her again and she kissed him back for a few moments before pulling away. "Come on, we can't do this here. We said no kissing in the building."

Jane sighed, but let it go. He was already lucky she had let him display so much affection the last five minutes. He hugged her tightly, taking in her scent. She definitely smelled of cinnamon. Best smell in the world.

~o~

**Author's Notes:** So sorry for not updating this in ages. It's not due to lack of desire/interest. I just promised _someone_ to finish Perfecting ASAP so Amalgamation was put on temporary hold. I'm glad you all enjoyed fic 15 and thanks to everyone who's nominated a fic of this collection for the Jellies at the Jello Forever message board :)


	17. 17 Prime Trust

_For Yana who said, and I quote: __**"**_**hurry so i can read :p**"

~o~

**17. Prime Trust**

~o~

"Well, maybe, just maybe, this case is exactly what it looks like it's about: bitter unsubs with a grudge against the fat cats," Lisbon suggested to an unconvinced Jane. The man was stubborn. He always looked for the interesting solution, not the obvious one. One day he would learn that sometimes the solution _was_ the obvious answer.

"Nice drive though," he commented.

She suppressed a groan. "Nice _three-hour_ drive," she pointed out. Maybe Jane had all the time in the world, but _she_ had things to do. Wasting six hours driving wasn't high on her priority list. Sometimes Lisbon wished Jane would realize that she wasn't working a lot just for fun, there was actual work that needed to get done.

"I'm hungry," Jane said as he got in the car. "Are you hungry?"

Lisbon sighed, preparing herself for the long drive.

"Ready?" Jane asked her.

"Ready," she answered and he drove off.

"You know, I like that the drive is so long," he mused.

"Why?"

"We spend time together," he answered simply.

Lisbon rolled her eyes. That hardly justified the enjoyment of a three-hour drive. Besides, it wasn't like they didn't see each other during the day. "We work together. We spend a lot of time together, more than most married couples," she argued, unconvinced about the virtues of the long drive. It wasn't like his car was the most comfortable car to drive in. For some reason, he had been extremely insistent on taking his car. She had agreed because she hadn't been in the mood to drive for three hours.

"I know," Jane agreed, "but it's different at work, with the guys there. Here, it's just you and me." He was smiling, just happy to be with his wife. He wished she wasn't so focused on work and would understand how nice it was to drive around the country together.

"It shouldn't matter. During work hours, our relationship should remain the same whether we're alone or with the rest of the team." She paused for a minute, thinking. "I think we haven't set enough boundaries for our professional relationship."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think we're professional enough. Just last week, we kissed in the building even though we said we wouldn't do that anymore. We touch and kiss whenever we're out of the building and alone. It shouldn't happen."

Jane chuckled. "Um, I know our marriage isn't based on the physical, but I don't really intend to give it up just because we work together."

She eyed him, annoyed. Didn't he realize she was serious? This was no joking matter. "I mean during work hours," she clarified. "We shouldn't be affectionate under any circumstances when we're on the job. We shouldn't even talk about our personal relationship. If we address our relationship at all, it should be only our professional one. On the job we're co-workers, not husband and wife."

"So all our conversations should be strictly on a professional level?"

"Yes," Lisbon confirmed.

"But we talk about personal stuff with the rest of the team," Jane argued.

"We do?" she asked, surprised. "When?"

"Okay, maybe we don't," Jane conceded, "but I don't really see what the big deal is about being slightly personal when we're alone." Things had been fine this last year. He didn't really understand why the sudden need for change.

"Because we are professionals and should act accordingly. Just look at Faulk and Nadia. I don't have to be a mentalist to see that their colleague resented their personal relationship. How can I maintain that I am objective about you when we discuss our personal lives during work hours? We need to remain professional at all times."

"Fine," Jane mumbled, unconvinced. He was going to let it slide for now, but she would see that there's no harm in getting a little personal at work. And not just with him, but with the rest of the team. Jane was certain that they would love it if Lisbon opened up a bit more to them. The unity of the team would only strengthen with it. He was sure. For now, he would simply enjoy the time he had with her, however she wanted it. This was a lovely drive; the countryside was beautiful around here. He suddenly noticed a board on the side of the road. "Oh, look, they're selling fruit and vegetables over there."

~o~

"So only work-related talk, huh?" Jane asked as he paid for his apple and Lisbon's strawberries. This did put a damper on the 'surprise' he had planned for later. He supposed he would be able to convince Lisbon to make an exception, just for that one thing. Best way to convince her was to go along her professionalism rules. He didn't want to anger her and ruin everything.

"Yes," Lisbon confirmed as they walked out of the stable. "Do you have any idea who might have done it?"

"Everything's still mucky right now. I need to wait until things clear up a bit," he explained. "It's one of them, though."

"Do you think they could have done it together?"

"Interesting theory, but I don't think so. There's something very individual about this case. A murder done by a group of people is different." He scrunched up his face, trying to think of a way to explain what he meant. When he couldn't think of anything, he just said: "It's hard to explain."

"You know what's weird about those guys? None of them seem to give a damn," she said. "A colleague of theirs falls out of the sky and they seem okay with it. Is that guilt or indifference?" she wondered.

"Corporate brainwashing," Jane answered. "Turns them into robots. Grief isn't productive, and that's all." That was one of the reasons why Jane had always been appalled by the corporate world. He had preferred his psychic stints because at least he was his own free man. The CBI, although strugglingfor closed case quotas for budgeting reasons, did not have the same feeling as so many businesses.

"I don't buy that," Lisbon said. It was too easy. Throughout her career, she had seen all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds, doing all kinds of things. No one seemed to have been brainwashed by anyone. They all acted out of their own volition. "People make up their own minds. You can't brainwash them."

"Oh, sure you can. That's what these corporate retreats are about. It's primitive brainwashing via group suffering," Jane explained, "It's like office karaoke and fraternity hazing."

"How so?"

"When the individual is humiliated, their perceived value of the group is raised." He continued his explanation, gesturing as he spoke.

Lisbon wasn't convinced. "I went on a retreat when I got promoted to head of the unit," she told him. "I wasn't humiliated. I wasn't brainwashed." She had really enjoyed the retreat to her surprise. It had been useful and she had felt more prepared for her role as head of the SCU. She had liked to be among men and women who were facing the same challenges she was. Of course, none of them had the additional challenge of dealing with a consultant such as Patrick Jane.

"So you say."

"I wasn't," she retorted. "It was useful, actually."

"How so?"

"Learning about communication and leadership skills," Lisbon explained. "Building trust. Something you could profit from." She wondered how Jane would act in such a retreat. He would probably find a way of manipulating everything and everyone around him. The retreat would be useless for him, even if he DID need to learn a thing or two.

"What does that mean?" He wondered. Where was she getting at? Why would he need to profit from an idiotic retreat like that?

"Like you don't know you have major trust issues?" she said dryly.

"I trust people. I trust _you_."

Lisbon thought about it for a fraction of a second. "No, you don't." He trusted her at home, that she knew, but he didn't trust her at work. "And I don't trust you either."

For a moment, Jane froze. Did she really mean that there wasn't any trust in their marriage? No, that was impossible. She had confirmed many times that she trusted him. She obviously meant on a professional level, considering she had just told him that she wanted to keep things professional between them during work hours. Nevertheless, he wasn't happy that she didn't trust him professionally. "It's upsetting to hear that." He had always felt that even through her sighing and groaning, Lisbon appreciated his place on the team. How could she when she didn't trust him at work? "And... really, you don't trust me?"

"Of course not. How many times have you lied to me? Misled me? Tricked me? Is that trust? No." As she spoke, she saw that her husband knew she was only talking about their professional relationship. Despite the trust they had within their marriage, it didn't diminish the lack of trust in their professional one. It wasn't a bad thing that Jane was made aware of it.

"Well, we have to remedy this. Let's do a trust fall," he suggested.

"A trust fall?" she asked skeptically. She had long ago learned to be wary of any wild idea her husband had.

"Yeah, I'm sure you did one on your CBI retreat," he spoke with a slight mocking tone. Stupid retreat. It had brainwashed his wife. Now, she was incapable of seeing when someone trusted her and could be trusted. Just because he liked to play around, he was NOT untrustworthy. "It's when you turn around, fall backward, and I catch you."

"Oh, yes," she recalled. "We did do that."

"Mmmhm?" he encouraged her.

"No."

"You won't?"

"We have a long drive still." She walked around the car and he followed her.

"Here we have two _coworkers_ recognizing the boundaries of their _professional_ relationship." He repeated the words she had said earlier. She turned around to face him, a slight pout on her face, showing that she was indulging him. Jane didn't understand why she was being so stubborn. She had been the one who had wanted to keep their conversations strictly professional. Had it been also personal, they would have never talked about trust issues. Nevertheless, it was really interesting how she so clearly separated their personal and professional relationships. "See, you wanna trust me, but there's something holding you back."

"Yes," she agreed. "You're untrustworthy. It's my job not to trust you." Even though she was now completely sure that Jane knew they were strictly addressing their professional relationship, Lisbon felt the need to emphasize that this was about work and her job. Sometimes she wished he would understand how important it was for her to keep him in line, to make sure he wasn't going to blow up a building, or anything like that.

"Lisbon, I want you to know that you can trust me," he said seriously. He needed her to know that she could trust him on every level of their relationship. It was important that they trusted each other completely, including at work. "No matter what happens, I will be there for you. I will." He lowered himself a little so he was on eye-level with her when he saw her skepticism. "I need you to know that." She nodded a little. He was pretty sure that he hadn't achieved complete trust in five seconds, but that was a start. "Now, can I catch you?" he asked playfully. He might as well have a bit of fun.

"Come on," she pleaded. She knew that if he was stuck on the idea, she would eventually agree to it. She hated how he could persuade her to do just about anything.

"Please." He gesticulated with his hands, urging her on.

She sighed. It was obvious that no matter what, he wouldn't budge. If she didn't agree to it, they could stay here for hours. "Fine," she relented, turning around.

He grinned happily and clapped his hands, waiting eagerly. "Come on," he urged her.

She closed her eyes and winced. Granted, this was only a matter of catching her and didn't require much fitness, but she had seen her husband play basket ball. He was not good on the whole catching thing. She let herself fall and for a brief second that seemed to last an eternity, she thought he wasn't going to catch her. Fortunately, just as she was about to hit the ground, he caught her and she let out the breath she had been holding out of relief.

"See? You can trust me," he said as she got up.

"Oh, wow, that worked. Suddenly I trust you," she answered sarcastically, smiling.

"Ah huh." Jane said in a 'there you go' manner. Even if she denied it, he was sure that she trusted him a bit more than she had before they started this conversation.

"I allow you to drive me around the country in this contraption. That's serious trust," she said as she and Jane both got in the car.

"Lisbon, you wound me," he said. "I thought you loved my car."

"Think again."

After driving for thirty minutes, Lisbon realized that Jane had taken them off the main road - which was already saying something. The 'main' road reminded her of a path between two farms more than anything else.

"Where are we going?"

Jane grinned. "You'll see."

"Jane..." she said in a warning tone. She was not in the mood for games.

"Will you please _trust_ me?" he said, looking sheepishly at her.

She leaned back in her seat, slightly pouting. She had a feeling that she was going to regret 'trusting' him. Two minutes later, he stopped the car and got out. Lisbon stepped out and looked around her. There was absolutely nothing. Not a car, house, building or proper road.

"WHERE are we?"

"Middle of nowhere," Jane answered, opening the trunk.

Lisbon tried to remain calm. She was definitely not in the mood for one of his games. They still had at least two hours to drive to get back to Sacramento, not counting the time to get to this deserted spot. "And what are we doing in the middle of nowhere?"

Jane took a cooler and a basket out of the trunk. "Celebrating our anniversary."

"What?" Lisbon asked, confused.

"I know we just talked about keeping our professional boundaries, but maybe we could make an exception today as it is our wedding anniversary," Jane said as he laid the blanket on the ground, next to a tree. He took things out of the cooler and basket: plates, glasses, food containers and a bottle of champagne.

"Today's the 25th?" she said, wide-eyed.

"Yes, my dear."

"Already?" She had forgotten their wedding anniversary. Well, she hadn't completely forgotten it. She just hadn't known that today was the 25th.

"Please refrain from exhibiting your enthusiasm," Jane said sarcastically. His wife was definitely not the romantic one in the couple. Oh well, he knew it wasn't because she didn't care. For the things that mattered, she definitely cared.

"I just... I was so caught up in this case," she explained, still a bit shocked. "I completely forgot that today was the 25th."

"Luckily for you, your husband hasn't." He grinned at her, sitting on the blanket. He tapped on the space next to him and said, "Come on."

Lisbon smiled as she sat on the blanket. "I can't believe you did all this," She said as she looked at everything Jane had set on the table. Such a lovely picnic. She felt a bit ashamed that she had gone on and on about keeping their interactions strictly professional during work hours on the day of their anniversary. She had, as usual, perfect timing. Fortunately, Jane didn't dwell on things like that. He really wasn't a petty man.

"Well it is our first wedding anniversary," he explained. "I had to do something. It's still pretty cold," Jane said happily when he took the bottle of champagne. "We better drink this before it gets too warm and undrinkable." He poured the champagne in two glasses and handed her one.

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now let's toast: let's thank our lucky star that you're too caught up with work to realize how big a catch you are and decided to settle for me."

Lisbon laughed as they clinked their glasses and drank. "Like you're not?"

"With my issues? Please." Jane said skeptically. "I think just about every woman would run very, very far."

Lisbon shook her head. She couldn't believe he was this obtuse. He must be playing her. "Women love nothing more than mending men's old wounds."

"That's exactly why you're a catch, Lisbon - apart from how incredibly hot you are; you know that you can't mend my wounds. You just accept them."

She took the rest of her champagne in one gulp and leaned in to kiss him, already feeling the effect of the alcohol. She was determined to show him that even if she had her pick of every man, she would still choose him.

An hour later, Lisbon and Jane were lying under the blanket, rather than over it, completely naked. Lisbon kissed Jane's chest. "This has been a very good wedding anniversary."

"I'm glad you approve."

"We didn't really eat the food though. And you went to all that trouble."

"That's okay. I got the reward, so..."

She lightly tapped him on the chest. "Pig."

"I try," he said, capturing her lips with his own. He rolled on top of her as he deepened the kiss.

After a few minutes, Lisbon pulled away. "We should get going, it's getting late." She fumbled through the pile of clothes, looking for her bra and underwear. Jane caught her arm and dragged her back on the ground, pinning her under him.

"Come on, what difference is twenty more minutes going to make?" he said, trying to convince her by leaving a trail of kisses on the crook of her neck.

"Fine," she gave up. "It is our anniversary." She kissed him, running her fingers through his hair. This was definitely not part of the professional boundaries she had mentioned earlier.

~o~

Lisbon woke when she felt someone shaking her. She opened her eyes, blinking, trying to recognize her surroundings. It was pitch black. She turned and saw Jane, naked, staring at her. "What time is it?"

"Late."

Lisbon sighed. "This was not twenty minutes."

"_You_ fell asleep," Jane pointed out.

"Well, you..." she paused, realizing that she had no argument, which made him smile.

"I like watching you sleep."

She rolled her eyes. "You just had nothing better to do," she said as she began to get dressed. "We really have to go now."

~o~

"Talk to me," Jane said to a sleepy Lisbon.

"Do I have to?" she whined.

"No. I can just fall asleep and we can drift into oncoming traffic. Your call."

Lisbon straightened up, waking herself up. "Have you seen any good movies lately?"

"No. You?"

She thought about it for a second. They hadn't really watched anything lately, and the few evenings she had spent alone, she had preferred spending them in a hot bath with a good book. "No."

"Interesting, '' Jane mused and Lisbon snorted. Of course he would find such a boring conversation interesting. ''We should go to the movies, '' he suggested. ''We don't go out much."

"Sure."

"How about this weekend?"

She shook her head. "No, not this weekend."

"Why not?"

She smiled at him happily. "I've got things planned for this weekend." She could do surprises too. She just hoped he would like it. Jane looked at her in confusion.

"Anniversary plans. Just because I forgot today was the 25th doesn't mean I forgot about our anniversary."

~o~

Lisbon had to spend a better part of the night, calming the Carnelian executives down and urging them to find lodging elsewhere after the bomb failed to go off. Jane stayed on the sideline, observing everyone's actions and behavior. When the executives left, Lisbon joined Jane, who was leaning against his car, patiently waiting.

"They've gone to the nearest hotel. The bomb squad will get here in about two hours. We can't really leave this place until they arrive."

"Come on," Jane told her and he took her hand, leading her around the house.

"Where are we going?" Lisbon asked.

"Some spot I found near the back of the house," he said excitedly.

"What kind of 'spot'?" she asked, suspicious. She never trusted her husband when he was looking at her in this particular way.

"A place to have sex."

Lisbon stopped in her tracks, forcing Jane to do the same. "A place to have sex?" she asked, annoyed. "Don't you think it's not really the time or place for that? This is definitely _not_ professional."

Jane shrugged. "Well, we can't really sleep, and we have two hours to kill. Everybody's gone so no one will catch us. Sex sounds like the best option."

She blinked, hardly believing what she was hearing. She thought she had filled her quota of outdoor sex for a while. "We already had sex this afternoon. Twice."

"What, is there a limit on the number of times you're allowed to have sex in a day? Besides, technically, it wasn't this afternoon; it was _yesterday_ afternoon."

"We are not having sex again. First, I think we covered our outdoor sex experience for at least the next six months. Second, this is _exactly_ the kind of unprofessionalism that I was talking about earlier. I let it slide this afternoon because it was our anniversary, but as you just pointed out, it is now the 26th. No sex. We're simply going to patiently wait for the bomb squad to arrive."

~o~

"Teresa," Jane shook her awake. "Get dressed. I think the bomb squad is here."

"What?" Lisbon sat up. She looked down at her body and sighed when she saw that she was naked, memories flowing back. She had been so easily convinced. When she heard voices in the distance, she began to dress quickly. "I can't believe I fell asleep." She shook her head as she put her shirt on. "I can't believe we had sex again."

"I can."

She sent him a deathly glare. "When did you even get dressed?"

"When you were sleeping. Hurry up or they'll catch you in a very compromising position."

"I hate you," she said, annoyed.

"What every husband likes to hear from his wife," he noted dryly.

"You know I didn't mean it like that," she retorted as she put her shoes on. "I obviously don't hate you, but I'm a little stressed right now and you're definitely not making things easier."

"Sorry," Jane said petulantly.

"Agent Lisbon?" they heard someone cry from several feet away.

"We're here!" Jane yelled out as Lisbon put her jacket back on. They walked toward the house and were met by an agent from the bomb squad.

"You're Agent Lisbon?" he asked her, a hint of surprise in his voice.

"Yes," Lisbon confirmed, glowering at him.

He smiled at her. "Sorry, I just didn't expect someone like you."

Lisbon raised her eyebrows. "What did you expect?"

"Just not someone as beautiful."

Lisbon kept her eyebrows raised, but a small smile played on her lips. It had been a while since anyone had hit on her. Jane didn't even count as he shanghaied her into dating him more than anything else.

"There's a failed bomb that needs checking out," Jane pointed out.

"Right," the bomb squad agent agreed. "Could you show me its location?"

The three of them went to the house, and Jane made sure he was walking in the middle, separating his wife and the bomb squad agent.

~o~

"What are you looking for?" Jane asked Lisbon as she rummaged through the car.

"Hairbrush. I know there's one in here somewhere. I took it when we went to the beach last month and left it in your car."

"Do you want to stop at a motel somewhere so we can at least shower before we go to Lee Skelling's house?"

She shook her head. "No, let's take care of him. I'd rather shower at our house."

"Okay. The hairbrush is in the glove compartment in front of you."

"Thanks," she said, opening the glove compartment and retrieving the hairbrush. "This feels like the longest day."

"We have been up for over 24 hours. Well I have been. You caught a couple of hours of sleep. Maybe when we're at the house, we'll have time to..." He trailed off, grinning suggestively at her.

"Are you kidding? What's up with you today?"

"It's not my fault. Do you have any idea how attractive you are when you're grumpy and sleep deprived?"

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Please."

"Honestly. Your eyes sparkle, your hair's tousled and you let your inhibitions down. All very attractive."

"I could be wearing a potato sack and have a paper bag over my head, and you would still find me attractive, '' she said dryly, not easily swayed by romantic words. ''You're not very difficult to please."

"Actually, I am, '' Jane disagreed. ''I find many women very beautiful, but there are very few that I find attractive. Therefore, once I'm attracted to a woman, that attraction sticks no matter what. However, as attractive as you are every day, I find you particularly attractive today."

Lisbon shook her head. "I will never understand you."

~o~

When Lisbon walked into her bedroom, a towel wrapped around her body, she braced herself for avoiding her husband's flirtation. She really needed to sleep. She shouldn't have been worried, however, because Jane was fast asleep, vest unbuttoned, on their bed. Two minutes later, she was fast asleep, arms wrapped around him.

At noon, the alarm went off and Lisbon, waking up, turned it off. She groaned as she crawled back into her husband's arms. "We have to get up," she told him.

He stirred at her words, but didn't make a move to get up. "But we were sleeping so well."

"I know, but the team's waiting for us."

"Lisbon, always the professional."

"What?" she asked defensively. What was so wrong about being professional? Actually, she couldn't believe she even had to defend this. She should be lauded for her desire to remain professional.

"Just saying, '' Jane replied, sensing that he was aggravating his wife beyond the invisible limit of his personal safety. He had learned early on that he could goad his wife to a limit. After a certain point, his personal health, physical and mental, was at risk. He decided to change the topic. He used it as an opportunity to clarify what they had been talking about the day before. ''So, your lack of trust in me is only within our professional relationship, right?"

"Yes," she confirmed. "I trust you completely on a personal level."

"And I trust you."

She smiled.

"But I don't trust that bomb squad guy."

She stopped smiling and hit him in the back of the head before heading to the bathroom. Jane grinned, amused by her reaction. He loved his little spitfire.

~o~

"We made the deal," Cho said to her, walking into her office.

She smiled. "Good. I hope someone makes him his bitch in jail."

Cho almost smiled. "Boss..."

"What? You were thinking the same thing," she defended herself.

Cho nodded and left her office. A second later, his head popped in. "Did you have a good day yesterday?"

"Uh, sure..." she trailed off, confused by the question.

Cho shrugged. "Just wondering. You had so much driving to do, stuck in that car with Jane. Must have been a drag."

Lisbon gently smiled, remembering the day before. "Nah, it wasn't that bad."

He nodded. "Good. I'm glad."

~o~

**Author's Notes: I promise it won't take as long to answer your wonderful reviews this time. It's really not that I don't appreciate them. I love them. You guys are so lovely. Life has just been completely insane in August. It's slowly calming down, for which I'm very grateful. I will hopefully write more often, but I can't many any promises. When I started Amalgamation, I was unemployed. Now, I am in full-time permanent employment and I don't think I'm getting fired any time soon so I don't have as much time as I used to so please be patient with me. **

**Also, I would like to give a special shout-out to the people at the Spanish Mentalist forum who have said the nicest things about this fic. It was so, so sweet to discover this. I'm really touched.**


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